t/CSB  LIBRARY 


-  0- 


SALATHIEL 


THE   WANDERING   JEW; 


A  Story  of 
The  Past,  the  Present,  and  the  Future 


BY 


THE  REV.  GEORGE  CROLY,  LL.D. 


NEW  YORK 

FUNK    &    WAGNALLS    COMPANY 
30  LAFAYETTE  PLACE 


PREFACE. 

THERE  has  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  Europe,  dur- 
ing the  last  thousand  years,  a  mysterious  individual — a 
sojourner  in  all  lands,  yet  a  citizen  of  none;  professing 
the  profoundest  secrets  of  opulence,  yet  generally  living 
in  a  state  of  poverty;  astonishing  every  one  by  the  evi- 
dence of  his  intercourse  with  the  eminent  characters  of 
every  age,  yet  connected  with  none — without  lineage,  pos- 
session, or  pursuit  on  earth — a  wanderer  and  unhappy! 

A  number  of  histories  have  been  invented  for  him; 
some  purely  fictitious,  others  founded  on  ill-understood 
records.  Germany,  the  land  of  mysticism,  has  toiled  the 
most  in  this  idle  perversion  of  truth.  Yet  those  narra- 
tives had  been  in  general  but  a  few  pages,  feebly  founded 
on  the  fatal  sentence  of  his  punishment  for  an  indignity 
offered  to  the  Author  of  the  Christian  faith. 

That  exile  lives !  that  most  afflicted  of  the  people  of  af- 
fliction yet  walks  this  earth,  bearing  the  sorrows  of 
nineteen  centuries  on  his  brow — withering  in  soul  for  the 
guilt  of  an  hour  of  madness.  He  has  long  borne  the  scoff 
of  man  in  silence;  he  has  heard  his  princely  rank  de- 
graded to  that  of  a  menial,  and  heard  without  a  mur- 
mur; he  has  heard  his  unhappy  offence  charged  to  de- 
liberate malice,  when  it  was  but  the  misfortune  of  a  zeal 
inflamed  by  the  passions  of  his  people;  and  he  has  bowed 
to  the  calumny  as  a  portion  of  his  punishment.  But  the 
time  for  this  forbearance  is  no  more.  He  feels  himself 
at  last  wearing  away ;  and  feels,  with  a  not  uncheered  sen- 


XX  PREFACE. 

Ration,  like  that  of  returning  to  the  common  fates  of  man- 
-  kind,  a  desire  to  stand  clear  with  his  fellow-men.     In  their 
presence  he  will  never  move  again,  until  that  day  when 
all  beings  shall  be  summoned,  and  all  secrets  be  known. 
In  his  final  retreat  he  has  collected  these  memorials. 
He  has  concealed  nothing,  he  has  dissembled  nothing;  the 
picture  of  his  hopes  and  fears,  his  weaknesses  and  his  sor- 
rows, is  stamped  here  with  sacred  sincerity. 

Other  narratives  may  be  more  specious  or  eloquent,  but 
this  narratiye  has  the  supreme  merit  of  reality.     It  may 
be  doubted;  it  may  even  be  denied.     But  this  he  must 
-endure.    He  has  been  long  trained  to  the  severity  of  the 
world ! 


SALATHIEL. 

THE  WANDERING  JEW. 


CHAPTER   I. 

"TARRY  THOU,  TILL  I  COME."  The  words  shot  through 
me — I  felt  them  like  an  arrow  in  my  heart — my  brain 
whirled — my  eyes  grew  dim.  The  troops,  the  priests,  the 
populace,  the  world,  passed  away  from  before  my  senses 

/  -like  phantoms. 

But  my  mind  had  a  horrible  clearness.  As  if  the  veil 
that  separates  the  visible  and  invisible  worlds  had  been 
rent  in  sunder,  I  saw  shapes  and  signs,  for  which  mortal 
/language  has  no  name.  The  whole  expanse  of  the  future 
spread  under  my  mental  gaze.  A  preternatural  light,  a 
new  power  of  mind,  seemed  to  have  been  poured  into  my 
being.  I  lived  over  again  in  frightful  distinctness  every 
act  and  instant  of  the  night  of  my  unspeakable  sacrilege. 
I  saw,  as  if  written  with  a  sunbeam,  the  countless  in- 
juries, that  in  the  rage  of  bigotry  I  had  accumulated  upon 

v-the  illustirous  victim;  the  cruel  tauntings  that  my  lips 
had  taught  the  rabble;  the  sanguinary  prejudice,  that  had 

^  forbidden  them  to  discover  a  trace  of  virtue  where  all 
virtue  was.  The  blows  of  the  scourge  still  sounded  in 
my  ears.  Every  drop  of  the  innocent  blood  rose  up  in 

»•  judgment  against  me. 

Accursed  be  the  night  in  which  I  fell  before  the  tempter ! 
Blotted  out  from  time  and  eternity  be  the  hour  in  which 

~  I  took  part  with  the  torturers !    Every  fibre  of  my  frame 


22  SALATHIEL. 

quivers,  every  drop  of  my  blood  curdles,  as  I  still  hear 
the  echo  of  the  anathema,  that  on  the  night  of  woe  sprang 
first  from  my  furious  lips,  "His  BLOOD  BE  UPON  us,  AND 
UPON  OUR  CHILDREN!" 

I  had  headed  the  multitude:  where  others  shrank,  I 
urged ;  where  others  pitied,  I  reviled ;  I  scoffed  at  the  feeble 
malice  of  the  priesthood;  I  scoffed  at  the  tardy  cruelty 
of  the  Roman;  I  swept  away  by  menace  and  by 
scorn  the  human  reluctance  of  the  few  who  dreaded  to 
dip  their  hands  in  blood.  Thinking  to  do  God  service, 
and  substituting  my  passions  for  my  God,  I  threw  fire- 
brands on  the  hearts  of  a  rash,  jealous,  and  bigoted  peo- 
ple— I  triumphed! 

In  a  deed,  which  ought  to  have  covered  earth  with 
lamentation,  which  was  to  make  angels  weep,  which  might 
have  shaken  the  universe  into  dust,  I  triumphed !  The 
decree  was  passed :  but  my  frenzy  was  not  so  to  be  satiated. 
I  loathed  the  light  while  the  victim  lived.  Under  the 
charge  of  "treason  to  Cassar,"  I  demanded  instant  execu- 
tion of  the  sentence — "Not  a  day  of  life  must  be  given; 
not  an  hour ; — death,  on  the  instant ;  death  I"  My  clamor 
was  echoed  by  the  roar  of  millions. 

But,  in  the  moment  of  my  exultation,  I  was  stricken.  « 
He  who  had  refused  an  hour  of  life  to  the  victim,  was,  in 
terrible  retribution,  condemned  to  know  the  misery  of  life 
interminable.  I  heard  through  all  the  voices  of  Jeru- 
salem— I  should  have  heard  through  all  the  thunders  of 
heaven,  the  calm,  low  voice,  "Tarry  thou,  till  I  come !" 

I  felt  my  fate  at  once !  I  sprang  away  through  the 
shouting  hosts,  as  if  the  avenging  angel  waved  his  sword 
above  my  head.  Furious  execrations,  the  uproar  of 
myriads  stirred  to  the  heights  of  passion,  filled  the  air: 
still,  through  all,  I  heard  the  pursuing  sentence,  "Tarry 
thou,  till  I  come,"  and  felt  it  to  be  the  sentence  of  in- 
curable agony ! — I  was  never  to  know  the  shelter  of  the 


,   grave 


Immortality  on  Earth ! — The  perpetual  compulsion  of 
existence  in  a  world  made  for  change;  to  feel  thousands 
of  years  bowing  down  my  wretched  head;  alienated  from 
all  the  hopes,  enjoyments,  and  pursuits  of  man,  to  bear 
the  heaviness  of  that  existence,  which  palls  even  with  all 
the  stimulants  of  the  most  vivid  career  of  man;  life  pas- 


SALATUIEL.  23 

sionless,  exhausted,  melancholy,  old.  I  was  to  be  a  wild 
beast;  and  a  wild  beast  condemned  to  pace  the  same 
eternal  cage !  A  criminal  bound  to  the  floor  of  his  dun- 
geon forever!  I  would  rather  have  been  blown  about  on 
the  storms  of  every  region  of  the  universe. 

Immortality  on  Earth ! — I  was  still  in  the  vigor  of  life ; 
but  must  it  be  always  so?  Must  not  pain,  feebleness,  the 
loss  of  mind,  the  sad  decay  of  all  the  resources  of  the  human 
being,  be  the  natural  result  of  time?  Might  I  not  sink 
into  the  perpetual  sick-bed,  hopeless,  decrepitude,  pain 
without  relaxation,  the  extremities  of  famine,  of  disease, 
of  madness  ? — jet  this  was  to  be  borne,  for  ages  of  ages ! 

Immortality  on  Earth ! — Separation  from  all  that 
cheers  and  ennobles  life.  I  was  to  survive  my  country ;  to 
see  the  soil  dear  to  my  heart  violated  by  the  feet  of  bar- 
barians yet  unborn,  her  sacred  monuments,  her  trophies, 
her  tombs,  a  scoff  and  a  spoil.  Without  a  resting-spot 
for  the  sole  of  my  feet,  I  was  to  witness  the  slave,  the  man 
of  blood,  the  savage  of  the  desert,  the  furious  infidel,  riot- 
ing in  my  inheritance,  digging  up  the  bones  of  my  fathers, 
trampling  on  the  holy  ruins  of  Jerusalem ! 

Immortality  on  Earth ! — I  was  to  feel  the  still  keener 
misery  of  surviving  all  whom  I  loved;  wife,  child,  friend, 
even  to  the  last  being  with  whom  my  heart  could  imagine 
a  human  bond;  all  that  bore  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  their 
veins,  were  to  perish  in  my  sight,  and  I  was  to  stand  on 
the  verge  of  the  perpetual  grave,  without  the  power  to 
sink  into  its  refuge.  If  new  affections  coula  ever  wind 
their  way  into  my  frozen  bosom,  it  must  be  only  to  fill 
it  with  new  sorrows;  for,  those  I  love  must  still  be  torn 
from  me. — In  the  world  I  must  remain,  and  remain  alone ! 

Immortality  on  Earth ! — The  grave  that  closes  on  the 
sinner,  closes  on  his  sin.  His  weight  of  offence  is  fixed. 
No  new  guilt  can  gather  on  him  there.  But  I  was  to 
know  no  limit  to  the  weight,  that  was  already  crushing  me. 
The  guilt  of  life  upon  life,  the  surges  of  an  unfathom- 
able ocean  of  crime  were  to  roll  in  eternal  progress  over 
my  head.  If  the  judgment  of  the  great  day  were  terrible 
to  him  who  had  passed  but  through  the  common  measure 
of  existence,  what  must  be  its  terrors  to  the  wretch  who 
was  to  appear,  loaded  with  the  accumulated  guilt  of  a 
thousand  lives  1 


24  SALATHIEL. 

Overwhelmed  with  despair,  I  rushed  through  Jerusalem, 
with  scarcely  a  consciousness  of  whither  I  was  going.  It 
was  the  time  of  the  Passover,  when  the  city  was  crowded 
with  the  multitude  come  to  the  great  festival  of  the  year. 
I  felt  an  instinctive  horror  of  the  human  countenance, 
and  shunned  every  avenue  by  which  the  tribes  came  in.  I 
at  last  found  myself  at  the  Gate  of  Zion,  that  leads  south- 
ward into  the  open  country.  I  had  then  no  eyes  for  that 
wondrous  portal,  which  had  exhausted  the  skill  of  the 
most  famous  Ionian  sculptors,  the  master-work  of  Herod 
the  Great.  But  I  vainly  tried  to  force  my  wild  way 
through  the  crowds  that  lingered  on  their  march,  to  gaze 
upon  its  matchless  beauty;  portal  alone  worthy  of  the 
wonders  to  which  it  led,  like  the  glory  of  an  evening 
cloud,  opening  to  lead  the  eye  upwards  to  the  stars. 

On  those  days  the  Eoman  guard  were  withdrawn  from 
the  battlements,  and  I  ascended  them  to  seek  another 
escape;  but  the  concourse,  gathered  there  to  look  upon 
the  entrance  of  the  tribes,  fixed  me  to  the  spot.  Of  all 
the  strange  and  magnificent  sights  of  earth,  this  entrance 
was  the  most  fitted  to  swell  the  national  pride  of  country 
and  religion.  The  dispersion,  ordained  by  Heaven  for 
judgment  on  the  crimes  of  our  idolatrous  kings,  had,  in 
that  wonder-working  power  by  which  good  ti  brought  out 
of  evil,  planted  our  law  in  the  remotest  extremities  of 
the  world.  Among  its  proselytes  were  the  mighty  of  all 
regions,  the  military  leaders,  the  sages,  the  kings;  all,  at 
least  once  in  their  lives,  coming  to  pay  homage  to  the 
great  central  city  of  the  faith;  and  all  coming  with  the 
pomp  and  attendance  of  their  rank.  The  procession 
amounted  to  a  number  which  threw  after-times  into  the 
shade.  Three  millions  of  people  have  been  counted  at  the 
Passover. 

The  diversities  of  the  multitude  were  not  less  striking. 
Every  race  of  mankind,  in  its  most  marked  peculiarities, 
there  passed  beneath  the  eye.  There  came  the  long  train 
of  swarthy  slaves  and  menials  round  the  chariot  of  the 
Indian  prince,  clothed  in  the  silks  and  jowols  of  regions 
beyond  the  Ganges.  Upon  them  pressed  the  troop  of 
African  lion-hunters,  half  naked,  but  with  their  black 
limbs  wreathed  with  pearl  and  fragments  of  unwrought 
gold.  Behind  them  moved  on  their  camels  patriarchal 


8ALATHIEL.  25 

groups,  the  Arab  Sheik,  a  venerable  figure  with  his  white 
locks  flowing  from  beneath  his  turban,  leading  his  sons, 
like  our  father  Abraham,  from  the  wilderness  to  the 
Mount  of  Vision.  Then  rolled  on  the  glittering  chariot 
of  the  Assyrian  chieftain,  a  regal  show  of  purple  and 
gems  convoyed  by  horsemen  covered  with  steel.  The 
Scythian  Jews,  wrapped  in  the  furs  of  wolf  and  bear,  iron 
men  of  the  north;  the  noble  Greek,  the  perfection  of  the 
human  form,  with  his  countenance  beaming  the  genius 
and  beauty  of  his  country;  the  broad  and  yellow  features 
of  the  Chinese  rabbins;  the  fair  skins  and  gigantic  forms 
of  the  German  tribes;  strange  clusters  of  men  unknown 
to  the  limits  of  Europe  or  Asia,  with  their  black  locks, 
complexions  of  the  color  of  gold,  and  slight  yet  sinewy 
limbs,  marked  with  figures  of  suns  and  stars  struck  into 
the  flesh;  marched  crowd  on  crowd;  and  in  strong 
contrast  with  all,  the  Italian  on  the  charger  or  in  the 
chariot,  urging  the  living  stream  to  the  right  and  left, 
with  the  haughtiness  of  the  acknowledged  master  of  man- 
kind. The  representative  world  was  before  me.  But  all 
those  distinctive  marks  of  country  and  condition,  though 
palpably  ineradicable  by  human  means,  were  overpowered 
and  mingled  by  the  one  grand  impression  of  the  place  and 
the  time.  In  their  presence  was  the  City  of  Holiness ; 
the  Hill  of  Zion  lifted  up  its  palaces ;  above  them  ascended, 
like  another  city  in  a  higher  region  of  the  air,  that 
TEMPLE,  to  whose  majesty  the  world  could  show  no  equal, 
to  which  the  eyes  of  the  believer  were  turned  from  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  in  whose  courts  Solomon,  the 
king  of  earthly  kings  for  wisdom,  had  called  down  the 
blessing  of  the  Most  High,  and  it  had  descended  on  the 
altar  in  fire;  in  whose  sanctuary  the  King,  whom  heaven 
and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain,  was  to  make  his 
future  throne,  and  give  glory  to  his  people. 

0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem !  when  I  think  of  what  I  saw 
thee  then,  and  of  what  I  have  since  seen  thee,  the  spoiled, 
the  desolate,  the  utterly  put  to  shame;  when  I  have  seen 
the  Boman  plough  driven  through  the  soil  on  which  stood 
the  Holy  of  Holies ;  the  Saracen  destroying  even  its  ruins ; 
the  last,  worst  devastator,  the  barbarian  of  the  Tartar 
desert,  sitting  in  grim  scorn  upon  the  ramparts  of  the  city 
of  David;  violating  the  tombs  of  the  prophet  and  the 


26  8ALATHIEL. 

king;  turning  up  for  plunder  the  soil,  every  blade  of 
whose  grass,  every  atom  of  whose  dust,  was  sacred  to  the 
broken  heart  of  Israel ;  trampling  the  remnant,  that 
lingered  among  its  walls  only  that  they  might  seek  a  grave 
in  the  ashes  of  the  mighty ;  I  have  felt  my  spirit  maddened 
within  me.  I  have  made  impious  wishes.  I  still  start 
from  my  bed,  when  I  hear  the  whirlwind,  and  send  forth 
fierce  prayers  that  its  rage  may  be  poured  on  the  tents  of 
the  oppressor.  I  unconsciously  tear  away  my  white  locks, 
and  scatter  them  in  bitterness  of  soul  towards  the  East. 
In  the  wildness  of  the  moment,  I  have  imagined  every 
cloud  that  sailed  along  the  night,  a  minister  of  the  descend- 
ing vengeance.  I  have  seen  it  a  throne  of  terrible  shapes 
flying  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  majestic  spirits  and  kings 
of  wrath  hurrying  through  the  heavens  to  pour  down 
sulphurous  hail  and  fire,  as  upon  the  cities  of  the  Dead 
Sea.  I  have  cried  out  with  our  prophet,  as  the  vision 
swept  along,  "Who  is  he  that  cometh  from  Edom?  with 
dyed  garments  from  Bozra?  he  that  is  glorious  in  his  ap- 
paral,  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength !  Where- 
fore art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and  thy  garments  like 
him  that  treadeth  the  wine-press?"  and  I  have  thought 
that  I  heard  the  answer:  "I,  that  speak  in  righteousness, 
mighty  to  save!  I  will  tread  them  in  mine  anger,  and 
trample  them  in  my  fury,  and  their  blood  shall  be 
sprinkled  upon  my  garments,  and  I  will  stain  all  my 
raiment;  for  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in  mine  heart,  and 
the  year  of  my  redeemed  is  come!" 

Then,  when  the  impulse  passed  away,  my  eyes  have 
turned  into  fountains  of  tears,  and  I  have  wept  until  morn- 
ing came,  and  the  sounds  of  the  world  called  back  its 
recollections,  and  for  the  sacred  hills  and  valleys  that  I 
had  imagined  in  the  darkness,  I  saw  only  the  roofs  of  some 
melancholy  city,  in  which  I  was  a  forlorn  fugitive;  or  a 
wilderness,  with  but  the  burning  sands  and  the  robber  be- 
fore me;  or  found  myself  tossing  on  the  ocean,  not  more 
fruitless  than  my  heart,  nor  more  restless  than  my  life, 
nor  more  unfathomable  than  my  woe.  Yet,  to  the  last 
will  I  hope  and  love.  0  Jerusalem !  Jerusalem !  even  in 
my  mirth,  if  I  forget  thee ! 

But  those  were  the  thoughts  of  after-times.  On  that 
memorable  and  dreadful  day.  I  had  no  perception  but  of 


8ALATHIEL.  27 

some  undefinable  fate  which  was  to  banish  me  from  man- 
kind. I  at  length  forced  my  way  through  the  pressure  at 
the  gate,  turned  to  none  of  the  kinsmen  who  called  to  me, 
as  I  passed  their  chariots,  and  horses,  overthrew  with  des- 
perate and  sudden  strength  all  who  impeded  my  progress, 
and  scarcely  felt  the  ground  till  I  had  left  the  city  behind, 
and  had  climbed,  through  rocks  and  ruins,  the  mountain 
that  rose  drearily  before  me,  like  a  barrier  shutting  out 
the  living  world. 


CHAPTER    II. 

TERROR  had  exhausted  me ;  and  throwing  myself  on  the 
ground,  under  the  shade  of  the  palm-trees  that  crowned  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  I  fell  into  an  almost  instant  slumber. 
But  it  was  unrefreshing  and  disturbed.  The  events  of  the 
day  again  came  before  me,  strangely  mingled  with  those  of 
my  past  life,  and  with  others  of  which  I  could  form  no 
waking  remembrance.  I  saw  myself  sometimes  debased 
below  man — like  the  great  Assyrian  king;  driven  out  to 
feed  upon  the  herb  of  the  forest,  and  wandering  for  years 
exposed  to  the  scorching  sun  by  day,  and  the  dews  that 
sank  chilling  upon  my  naked  frame  by  night — I  then 
seemed  filled  with  supernatural  power,  and  rose  on  wings 
till  earth  was  diminished  beneath  me,  and  I  felt  myself 
fearfully  alone.  Still,  there  was  one  predominant  sensa- 
tion ;  that  all  this  was  for  punishment,  and  that  it  was  to 
be  perpetual. — At  length,  in  one  of  my  imaginary  nights, 
I  found  myself  whirled  on  the  wind,  like  a  swimmer  down 
a  cataract,  in  helpless  terror  into  the  bosom  of  a  thunder- 
cloud. I  felt  the  weight  of  the  rolling  vapors  round  me ; 
I  saw  the  blaze;  I  was  stunned  by  a  roar  that  shook  the 
firmament. 

My  eyes  sudenly  opened,  yet  my  dream  appeared  only 
to  be  realized  by  my  waking.  Thick  clouds  of  heavy  and 
heated  vapor  were  rapidly  rolling  up  from  the  precipices 
below,  and  at  intervals  a  pound,  that  I  could  not  dis- 
tinguish from  distant  thunder,  burst  on  the  wind.  But 
the  sun  was  bright,  and  the  horizon  was  the  dazzling  blue 
of  the  eastern  heaven.  As  my  senses  slowly  returned,  for 
I  felt  like  a  man  overpowered  with  wine,  I  was  enabled 


28  SAuATHIEL. 

to  discover  where  I  was.  The  discovery  itself  was  terror. 
I  had  in  my  distraction  fled  to  the  mountain  on  which 
no  Jew  ever  looked  without  shame  and  sorrow  for  the 
crimes  of  the  greatest  king  into  whose  nostrils  the 
Almighty  ever  poured  the  spirit  of  life,  but  which  a 
Jewish  priest,  as  I  was,  could  not  touch  without  being 

'  guilty  of  defilement.  I  sat  on  the  Mount  of  Corruption, 
so  called  from  its  having  once  witnessed  the  idolatries  of 
our  might  Solomon,  when,  in  his  old  age,  he  gave  way 
to  the  persuasions  of  his  heathen  wives — that  irreparable 
crime  for  which  the  kingdom  was  rent,  and  the  strength 
»/  of  Israel  scattered.  I  saw  in  the  hollows  of  the  hill  the 
spaces,  still  bearing  the  marks  of  burning,  and  barren 
forever,  on  which  the  temples  of  Moloch,  Chemosh,  and 
Ashtaroth,  had  stood  in  sight  of  the  House  of  the  living 
God.  The  very  palm-trees  under  which  I  had  snatched 
that  wild  and  bitter  sleep,  were  the  remnant  of  the  groves 
in  which  the  foul  rites  of  the  goddesses  of  Phoenicia  and 
Assyria  once  filled  the  air  with  midnight  abomination, 
and  horrid  yells  of  human  sacrifice,  almost  made  more 
fearful  by  the  roar  of  barbarian  revel,  the  wild  dissonance 
of  timbrel  and  horn,  the  Bacchanalian  chorus  of  the 
priesthood  and  people  of  impurity. 

The  vapors  that  rose  hot  and  sickly  before  me,  were 
the  smokes  from  the  fires  kindled  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom ; 
where  the  refuse  of  the  animals  slaughtered  for  the  use 
of  the  city,  and  the  other  pollutions  and  remnants  of 
things  abominable  to  the  Jew,  were  daily  burned.  The 
sullen  and  perpetual  fires,  the  deadly  fumes,  and  the 
aspects  of  the  beings,  chiefly  public  criminals,  who  were 
employed  in  this  hideous  task,  gave  the  idea  of  the  place 
of  final  evil.  Our  prophets,  in  their  threats  against  tho 
national  betrayers,  against  the  proud  and  the  self-willed, 
the  polluted  with  idols,  and  the  polluted  with  that  still 
darker  and  more  incurable  idolatry,  the  worship  of  the 
world,  pointed  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom !  The  Pharisee, 
when  he  denounced  the  unbelief  and  luxury  of  the  lordly 
Sadducee,  pointed  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom !  All — the 
Pharisee,  the  Essene,  the  Sadducee,  in  the  haughty  spirit 
that  forgot  the  fallen  state  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  crimes 

-  that  had  lowered  her ; — the  hypocrite,  the  bigot,  and  the 
sceptic,  alike  mad  with  hopeless  revenge ;  when  they  saw 


SALATHIEL.  29 

v  the  Roman  cohorts  triumphing  with  their  idolatrous  en- 
signs through  the  paths  once  trod  by  the  holy,  or  were 
driven  aside  by  the  torrent  of  cavalry,  and  the  gilded 
chariot  on  which  sat  some  insolent  proconsul  fresh  from 
Italy,  pointed  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom !  How  often,  as 
the  days  of  Jerusalem  hurried  towards  their  end,  and  by 
some  fatality,  the  violences  of  the  Koman  governors  be- 
came more  frequent  and  intolerable,  have  I  seen  the  groups 
of  my  countrymen,  hunted  into  some  by-way  of  the  city 
by  the  hoofs  of  the  Roman  horse,  consuming  with  that  in- 

•  ward  wrath  which  was  soon  to  flame  out  in  such  horrors, 
flinging  up  their  wild  hands,  as  if  to  upbraid  the  tardy 
heavens,  gnashing  their  teeth,  and  with  the  strong  con- 
tortions of  the  Oriental  countenance,  and  lip  scarcely 
audible  from  the  force  of  its  own  convulsion,  muttering 

''  conspiracy.  .  Or,  in  despair  of  shaking  off  that  chain 
which  had  bound  the  whole  earth,  appealing  to  the  endless 
future;  and  shrouding  their  heads  in  their  cloaks,  like 

'  sorcerers  summoning  up  demons,  each  with  his  quivering 
hand  stretched  out  towards  the  accursed  valley,  and  every 

/  tongue  groaning  "Hinnom  I" 

While  I  lay  upon  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  in  a  state 
which  gave  me  the  deepest  impression  of  the  parting  of 
soul  and  body,  I  was  startled  by  the  sound  of  a  trumpet. 
It  was  from  the  Temple;  which,  as  the  fires  below  sank 
with  the  growing  heat  of  the  day,  was  now  visible  to  me. 
The  trumpet  was  the  signal  of  the  third  hour,  when  the 

v  first  daily  sacrifice  was  to  be  offered.  It  was  the  week  of 
the  class  of  Abiah,  of  which  I  was,  and  this  day's  service 

••<•  fell  to  me.  Though  I  would  have  given  all  that  I  possessed 
on  earth  to  be  allowed  to  rest  upon  that  spot,  polluted  as 
it  was,  and  there  moulder  away  into  the  dust  and  ashes 
that  I  had  made  my  bed;  I  dared  not  shrink  from  that 
most  solemn  duty  of  the  priesthood. 

I  rose,  but  it  was  not  until  after  many  efforts  that  I 
was  able  to  stand.  I  struggled  along  the  summit  of  the 
ridge,  holding  by  the  stems  of  the  palm-trees.  The  sec- 
ond trumpet  sounded  loudly,  and  was  re-echoed  by  the 
cliffs.  I  had  now  no  time  for  delay,  and  was  about  to 
spring  downwards  towards  a  path  which  wound  round  the 
head  of  the  valley  and  beyond  the  fires,  when  my  ears 
were  again  arrested  by  the  peal  that  had  disturbed  me  in 


30  SALATHIEL. 

my  sleep;  and  my  glance,  which  commanded  the  whole 
circuit  of  the  hills  round  Jerusalem,  involuntarily  looked 
for  the  thundercloud.  The  sky  was  without  a  stain;  but 
the  eminences  towards  the  west,  on  whose  lovely  slopes 

v  of  vineyard,  rose,  and  orange  grove  my  eye  had  so  often 
reposed  as  on  a  vast  Tyrian  carpet  tissued  with  purple 
and  gold,  were  hung  with  gloom ;  a  huge  and  sullen  cloud 
seemed  to  be  gathering  over  the  heights,  and  flashes  and 
gleams  of  malignant  lustre  burst  from  its  bosom.  The  v 

•cloud  deepened,  and  the  distant  murmur  grew  louder  andv 
more  continued. 

I  hurried  to  the  city  gate.    To  my  astonishment,  I  found 
the  road,  that  I  had  left  so  choked  up  with  the  multitude, 

-almost  empty.  The  camels  stood  tethered  in  long  trains 
under  the  trees,  with  scarcely  an  owner.  The  tents  were 
deserted,  except  by  children,  and  the  few  old  persons 
necessary  for  their  care.  The  mules  and  horses  grazed 
through  the  fields  without  a  keeper.  I  saw  tents  full  of 
the  animals  and  other  offerings  that  the  tribes  brought 
up  to  the  great  feast,  almost  at  the  mercy  of  any  hand 
that  would  take  them  away.  Where  could  the  myriads  have 
disappeared,  which  had  covered  the  land  a  few  hours  be-  v ' 
fore  to  the  horizon  ? 

The  city  was  still  more  a  subject  of  astonishment.  A  > 
panic  might  have  driven  away  the  concourse  of  strangers, 
at  a  time  when  the  violences  of  the  Eoman  sword  had  given 
every  Jew  but  too  frequent  cause  for  the  most  sensitive 
alarm.  But  all  within  the  gate  was  equally  deserted.  The 
streets  were  utterly  stripped  of  the  regular  inhabitants. 
The  Eoman  sentinels  were  almost  the  only  beings  whom  I 
could  discover  in  my  passage  of  the  long  avenue,  from  the 
foot  of  the  upper  city  to  the  mount  of  the  Temple.  All 
ihis  was  favorable  to  my  extreme  anxiety  to  escape  every 
eye  of  my  countrymen ;  yet  I  cannot  tell  with  what  a  throb- 
bing of  heart,  and  variety  of  feverish  emotions,  I  at  length 
reached  the  threshold  of  my  dwelling.  Though  young,  I 
was  a  husband  and  a  father.  What  might  not  have  hap- 
pened since  the  sunset  of  the  evening  before?  for  my 
evil-doings,  for  which  may  He,  with  whom  mercy  lies  at 
the  right  hand  and  judgment  at  the  left,  have  mercy  on 
me,  had  fatally  occupied  the  night.  I  listened  at  the  door, 
with  my  heart  upon  my  lips.  I  dared  not  open  it.  My 


SALATBIEL.  31 

suspense  was  at  length  relieved  by  my  wife's  voice ;  she  was 
weeping.  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  thanked  Heaven  that 
she  was  alive. 

But  my  infant!  I  thought  of  the  sword  that  smote 
the  first-born  in  the  land  of  bondage,  and  felt  that  Judah, 
guilty  as  Egypt,  might  well  dread  its  punishment.  Was 
it  for  my  first-born  that  the  sobs  of  its  angel-mother  had 
arisen  in  her  loneliness?  Another  pause  of  bitter  sus-. 
pense — and  I  heard  the  laugh  of  my  babe  as  it  awoke  in 
her  arms.  The  first  human  sensation  that  I  had  felt  for 
so  many  hours,  was  almost  overpowering;  and  without 
regarding  the  squalidness  of  my  dress,  and  the  look  of 
famine  and  fatigue  that  must  have  betrayed  where  I  had 
been,  I  should  have  rushed  into  the  chamber.  But  at  that 
moment  the  third  trumpet  sounded.  I  had  now  no  time 
for  the  things  of  this  world.  I  plunged  into  the  bath, 
cleansed  myself  from  the  pollution  of  the  mountain, 
hastily  girt  on  me  the  sacerdotal  tunic  and  girdle;  and 

/with  the  sacred  fillet  on  my  burning  brow,  and  the  censer 
in  my  shaking  hand,  passed  through  the  cloisters,  and  took 

/  my  place  before  the  altar. 


CHAPTER  III. 

OF  all  the  labors  of  human  wealth  and  power  devoted 
to  worship,  the  temple  within  whose  courts  I  then  stood 
was  the  most  mighty.  In  the  years  of  my  unhappy  wan- 
derings, far  from  the  graves  of  my  kindred,  I  have  seen 
all  the  most  famous  shrines  of  the  great  kingdoms  of 
idolatry.  Constrained  by  cruel  circumstances,  and  the 
still  sterner  cruelty  of  man,  I  have  stood  before  the  altar  of 
the  Ephesian  Diana,  the  masterpiece  of  Ionian  splendor; 
I  have  strayed  through  the  woods  of  Delphi,  and  been  made 
a  reluctant  witness  of  the  superb  mysteries  of  that  chief  of 
the  oracles  of  imposture.  Dragged  in  chains,  I  have  been 
forced  to  join  the  procession  round  the  Minerva  of  the- 
Acropolis,  and  almost  forgot  my  chains,  in  wonder  at  that 
monument  of  a  genius,  which  ought  to  have  been  conse-v 
=:_. crated  only  to  the  true  God  by  whom  it  was  given.'  The 
temple  of  the  Capitoline  Jove,  the  Sancta  Sophia  of  the 
Rome  of  Constantine,  the  still  more  stupendous  fabric  in 
which  the  third  Rome  still  bows  before  the  fisherman  of 


32  8ALATHIEL. 

Galilee;  all  have  been  known  to  my  step,  that  knows  all  ' 
things  but  rest;  but  all  were  dreams  and  shadows  to  the 
grandeur,  the  dazzling  beauty,  the  almost  unearthly  glory, 
of  that  temple  which  once  covered  the  "Mount  of  Vision" 
of  the  City  of  JEHOVAH/- 

At  the  distance  of  almost  two  thousand  years,  I  have 
its  image  on  my  mind's  eye  with  living  and  painful  ful- 
ness. I  see  the  court  of  the  Gentiles  circling  the  whole ; 
a  fortress  of  the  purest  marble,  with  its  wall  rising  six 
hundred  feet  from  the  valley;  its  kingly  entrance,  worthy 
of  the  fame  of  Solomon ;  its  innumerable  and  stately  build- 
ings for  the  priests  and  officers  of  the  temple,  and  above 
them,  glittering  like  a  succession  of  diadems,  those  ala- 
baster porticos  and  colonnades  in  which  the  chiefs  and 
sages  of  Jerusalem  sat  teaching  the  people,  or  walked, 
breathing  the  pure  air,  and  gazing  on  the  grandeur  of  a 
landscape  which  swept  the  whole  amphitheatre  of  the 
mountains.  I  see,  rising  above  this  stupendous  boundary, 
the  court  of  the  Jewish  women  separated  by  its  porphyry 
pillars  and  richly-sculptured  wall;  above  this,  the  sepa- 
rated court  of  the  men ;  still  higher,  the  court  of  the  priests, 
the  crowning  splendor  of  all,  the  central  TEMPLE,  the  place 
of  the  Sanctuary,  and  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  covered  with 
plates  of  gold,  its  roof  planted  with  lofty  spearheads  of 
gold,  the  most  precious  marbles  and  metals  everywhere 
flashing  back  the  day,  till  Mount  Moriah  stood  forth  to 
the  eye  of  the  stranger  approaching  Jerusalem,  what  it 

*  had  been  so  often  described  by  its  bards  and  people,  "a 
mountain  of  snow  studded  with  jewels." 

The  grandeur  of  the  worship  was  worthy  of  this  glory 

*  of  architecture.     Four-and-twenty  thousand  Levites  min- 
istered by  turns — a  thousand  at  a  time/   Four  thousand 
more  performed  the  lower  offices.     Four  thousand  sing- 
ers and  minstrels,  with  the  harp,  the  trumpet,  and  all  the 
richest  instruments  of  a  land  whose  native  genius  was 
music,  and  whose  climate  and  landscape  led  men  instinct- 

••'  ively  to  delight  in  the  charm  of  sound,  chanted  the  in- 
spired songs  of  our  warrior  king,  and  filled  up  the  pauses 
of  prayer  with  harmonies  that  transported  the  spirit  be- 
yond the  cares  and  passions  of  a  troubled  world. 

I  was  standing  before  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings,  with 
the  Levite  at  my  side  holding  the  lamb ;  the  cup  was  in 
my  hand,  and  I  was  about  to  pour  the  wine  on  the  victim, 


8ALATHIEL.  33 

when  I  was  startled  by  the  sound  of  hurried  feet.     In 

another  moment  the  gate  of  the  court  was  abruptly  thrown 

back,  and  a  figure  rushed  in;  it  was  the  High  Priest,  but 

not  in  the  robes  of  ceremony  which  it  was  customary  for 

v  him  to  wear  in  the  seasons  of  the  greater  festivals.     He 

was  covered  with  the  common  vesture  of  the  priesthood, 

and  was  evidently  anxious  to  use  it  for  total  concealment. 

His   face  was  buried  in  the  folds  of  his  cloak,   and  he 

walked  with  blind  precipitation  towards  the  sanctuary. 

But  he  had  scarcely  reached  it,  when  a  new  feeling  stopped 

•'  him  ;  and  he  turned  to  the  altar,  where  I  was  standing  in 

.-  mute  surprise.    The  cloak  fell  from  his  visage  ;  it  was  pale 

as  death;  the  habitual  sternness  of  feature  which  ren- 

,»  '  dered  him  a  terror  to  the  people,  had  collapsed  into  feeble- 

ness ;  and  while  he  gazed  on  the  flame,  I  thought  I  saw  the 

-  v  glistening  of  a  tear  on  a  cheek  that  had  never  exhibited 


human  emotion  before.  But  no  time  was  left  for  question, 
even  if  reverence  had  not  restrained  me.  He  suddenly 
grasped  the  head  of  the  lamb,  as  was  customary  for  those 
v  who  offered  up  an  expiation  for  their  own  sins;  his  lip, 
ashy  white,  quivered  with  broken  prayer;  then,  snatch- 
ing the  knife  from  the  Levite,  he  plunged  it  into  the  ani- 
mal's throat,  and  with  his  hands  covered  with  blood,  and 
with  a  groan  that  sounded  despair,  again  rushed  distract- 
edly to  the  porch  of  the  Holy  House,  flung  aside  in  fierce 
•u  irreverence  the  evil  of  the  sanctuary,  and  darted  in. 

There  was  a  subterranean  passage  from  the  interior  of 
the  sanctuary  to  the  High  Priest's  cloister;  through  which 
I  conceived  that  he  had  gone.  But,  on  passing  near  the 
porch,  at  the  close  of  the  sacrifice,  I  heard  a  cry  of  agony 
from  within  that  penetrated  my  soul. 

I  had  never  loved  the  head  of  our  priesthood.  He  was 
a  haughty  and  hard-hearted  man  ;  insolent  in  his  office,  v 
which  he  had  obtained  by  no  unsuspicious  means  ;  and  a 
ready  tool  alike  of  the  popular  caprice,  and  of  the  tyranny 
of  our  foreign  masters.  But  he  was  a  man;  was  a  man 
of  my  own  order;  and  was  it  for  one  like  me  to  triumph 
over  even  the  most  abject  criminal  of  earth?  I  ascended 
the  steps  of  the  porch,  and,  with  a  sinking  heart  and 
trembling  hand,  entered  the  sanctuary. 

But  —  what  I  saw  there  I  have  no  power  to  tell  !  To 
this  moment,  the  recollection  overwhelms  my  senses.  Words 
were  not  made  to  utter  it.  The  ear  of  man  was  not  made 


34  SALATBIEL. 

*  to  hear  it.     Before  me  moved  things  mightier  than  of 
>  mortal  vision,  thronging  shapes  of  terror,  mysterious  grand- 
eurs, essential  power,  embodied  prophecy !     The  Veil  was 
rent  in  twain !    How  could  man  behold,  and  live !    When 

v  I  lifted  my  face  from  the  ground  again,  I  saw  but  the 
High  Priest/  He  was  kneeling,  with  his  hands  clasped 

*  upon  his  eyes;  his  lips  strained  wide,  as  if  laboring  to 
utter  a  voice;  and  his  whole  frame  rigid  and  cold  as  a 
corpse/    I   vainly   spoke,   and  attempted   to  rouse  him; 
terror,  or  more  than  terror,  had  benumbed  his  powers; 

'•  and,  unwilling  to  suffer  him  to  be  seen  in  this  extremity,  I 

"V  bore  him  in  my  arms  to  the  subterranean. 

But,  a  tumult,  of  which  I  could  scarcely  conjecture  the 
cause,  checked  me.  The  trampling  of  multitudes,  and 
cries  of  fury  and  fear,  echoed  round  the  Temple;  and  in 
the  sudden  apprehension,  the  first  and  most  fearful  to  the 
priest  of  Judah,  that  the  Komans  were  about  to  com- 
mence their  often  threatened  plunder^;  I  laid  down  my 
unhappy  burden  beside  the  door  of  the  passage,  and  re- 
turned to  defend,  or  die  with,  our  perishing  glory.  The 
sanctuary  in  which  I  stood  was  wholly  lighted  by  the 
lamps  round  its  walls.  But  when,  at  length  unable  to 
suppress  my  alarm  at  the  growing  uproar,  I  went  to  the 
porch,  I  left  comparative  day  behind  me;  a  gloom  deeper 
than  that  of  tempest,  and  sicklier  than  that  of  smoke, 
overspread  the  sky.  The  sun,  which  I  had  seen  like  a 
fiery  buckler  hanging  over  the  city,  was  utterly  gone.  Even 
while  I  looked,  the  darkness  deepened,  and  the  blackness 
of  night,  of  night  without  a  star,  fell  far  and  fearful  upon 
the  horizon,  v  ^=.  ,  //. 

It  has  been  my  fate,  and  an  intense  part  of  my  punish- 

v  ment,  always  to  conceive  that  the  calamities  of  nature 
and  nations  were  connected  with  my  crime.  I  have  tried 
to  reason  away  this  impression;  but  it  has  clung  to  me 
like  an  iron  chain;  nothing  could  tear  it  away  that  left 
the  life.  I  have  felt  it  hanging  over  my  brain  with  the 
weight  of  a  thundercloud.  As  I  glanced  into  the  gloom, 
the  thought  smote  me,  that  it  was  I,  who  had  brought  this 

v  Egyptian  plague,  this  horrid  privation  of  the  first  element 
•  of  life,  upon  my  country,  perhaps  upon  the  world,  per- 
haps never  to  be  relieved ;  for  it  came  condensing,  depth  on 
depth,  till  it  seemed  to  have  excluded  all  possibility  of  the 
existence  of  light;  it  was,  like  that  of  our  old  oppressors, 


SALATIIIEL.  35 

Y  darkness  that  might  be  felt,  the  darkness  of  a  universal 
y  grave.  - 

I  formed  my  fierce  determination  at  once,  and  resolved 
to  fly  from  my  priesthood,  from  my  kindred,  from  my 
.  country;  to  linger  out  my  days,  my  bitter,  banished  days, 
v  in  some  wilderness,  where  my  presence  would  not  be  a 
curse,  where  but  the  lion  and  the  tiger  should  be  my  fel- 
low dwellers,  where  the  sands  could  not  be  made  the  more 
v  barren  for  my  fatal  tread,  nor  the  fountains  more  bitter 
yfor  my  desperate  and  eternal  tears.     The  singular  pres- 
ence of  mind  found  in  some  men  in  the  midst  of  universal 
perturbation,  one  of  the  most  effective  qualities  of  our 
nature,  and  attributed  to  the  highest  vigor  of  heart  and 
understanding,   is   not   always   deserving  of   such   proud 
/parentage.     It  is  sometimes  the  child  of  mere  brute  ig- 
v  norance  of  danger,  sometimes  of  habitual  ferocity — in  my 
instance  it  was  that  of  madness;  the  fierce  energy  that 
leads  the  maniac  safe  over  roofs  and  battlements.     All 
in  the  Temple  was  confusion.     The  priests  lay  flung  at 
the  feet  of  the  altar;  or,  clinging  together  in  groups  of.:, 
helplessness  and  dismay,  waited  speechless  for  the  ruin7 
that  was  to  visit  them  in  this  unnatural  night.     I  walked 
v  through  all,  without  a  fear  or  a  hope  under  heaven. 

Through  the  solid  gloom,  and  among  heaps  of  men  and 
sacred  things  cast  under  my  feet,  like  the  spoil  of  some 
-  stormed  camp,  I  made  my  way  to  my  dwelling,  direct  and  ^ 
unimpeded,  as  if  I  walked  in  the  light  of  day.    I  found  my 
wife  in  deeper  terror  at  my  long  absence,  than  even  at 
the   darkness.     She   sprang   forward   at   my   voice,    and,  - 
falling  on  my  neck,  shed  the  tears  of  joy  and  love.     But 
few  words  passed  between  us,  for  but  few  were  necessary, 
-/  to  bid  her  with  her  babe  follow  me.    She  would  have  fol-  <j} 
•'  lowed  me  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  ^^LT^^^- 
{•     0  Miriam,  Miriam !  how  often  have  I  thought  of  thee, 
in  my  long  pilgrimage !  how  often,  like  that  of  a  spirit 
descended  to  minister  consolation  to  the  wanderer,  have    • 
I   seen,   in   my   midnight   watching,   thy   countenance   of 
more  than  woman's  beauty !    To  me  thou  hast  never  died. 
Thy  more  than  man's  loftiness  of  soul,  thy  generous  fidel- 
ity of  love  to  a  wayward  and  unhappy  heart;  thy  patient 
treading  with  me  along  the  path  that  I  had  sowed  with 
the  thorn  and  thistle  for  thy  feet,  but  which  should  have 
been  covered  with  the  wealth  of  princes,  to  be  worthy  of 


36  SALATHIEL. 

v'  thy  loveliness  and  thy  virtue;  all  rise  in  memory,  and 
condemnation,  before  the  chief  of  sinners.  Age  after 
age  have  I  travelled  to  thy  lonely  grave;  age  after  age 

/    have  I  wept  and  prayed  upon  the  dust  that  was  once  per- 

;  f ection.  In  all  the  hardness  forced  upon  me  by  a  stern 
world;  in  all  the  hatred  of  mankind  that  the  insolence 

v  of  the  barbarian  and  the  persecutor  has  bound  round  my 

bosom  like  a  mail  of  iron,  I  have  preserved  one  source  of  - 
V  y  feeling  sacred ;  a  solitary  fount  to  feed  the  little  vegeta-A 

y  tion  of  a  withered  heart,  the  love  of  thee :  perhaps,  to  be  a  t$\ 
sign  of  that  regenerate  time,   when  the  curse  shall   be 
withdrawn ;  perhaps,  to  be  in  mercy  the  source  from  which  , 
that  more  than  desert,  thy  husband's  soul,  shall  be  re-^ 
freshed,  and  the  barrenness  flourish  with  the  flowers  of 

Ythe  paradise  of  God ! 

Throwing  off  my  robe  of  priesthood,  as  I  then  thought, 
forever,  I  went  forth,  leading  my  heroic  wife  in  one 

Y  hand,  and  bearing  my  child  in  the  other.     I  had  left  be- 
hind me  sumptuous  things,  wealth  transmitted  from  a 
long  line  of  illustrious  ancestry.     I  cared  not  for  them.  • 
Wealth,  a  thousand  times  more  precious,  was  within  my 

/  embrace.     Yet,  when  I  touched  the  threshold,  the  last  " 
'  sensation  of  divorce  from  all  that  I  had  been  came  over 

V.  my  mind.  My  wife  felt  the  trembling  of  my  frame,  and, 
with  that  gentle  firmness  which  in  the  hour  of  trouble 
often  exalts  the  fortitude  of  woman  above  the  headlong 
and  inflamed  courage  of  the  warrior,  she  bade  me  be  of 
good  cheer.  I  felt  her  lips  on  my  hand  at  the  moment; 
the  touch  gave  new  energy  to  my  whole  being;  and  I 
/bounded  forward  into  the  ocean  of  darkness.  > 

Without  impediment  or  error,  I  made  my  way  over 
and  among  the  crowds  that  strewed  the  Court  of  the 
Gentiles.  I  heard  many  a  prayer  and  many  a  groan;  but 
I  had  no  more  to  do  with  man;  and  forced  my  way 
steadily  to  the  great  portal.  Thus  far,  if  I  had  been 
stricken  with  utter  blindness,  I  could  not  have  been  less 
guided  by  the  eye.  But,  on  passing  into  the  streets  of  the 
lower  city,  a  scattered  torch,  from  time  to  time,  strug- 
gling through  the  darkness,  like  the  lamp  in  a  sepulchre, 
gave  me  glimpses  of  the  scene.  The  broad  avenue  was 
encumbered  with  the  living,  in  the  semblance  of  the 
dead.  All  was  prostration,  or  those  attitudes  into  which 
men  are  thrown  .by  terror  beyond  the  strength  or  spirit 


SALATHIEL.  37 

of  man  to  resist.  The  cloud  that,  from  my  melancholy 
bed  above  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  I  had  seen  rolling  up 
the  hills,  was  this  multitude.  A  spectacle,  whose  name 
shall  never  pass  my  lips,  had  drawn  them  all  by  a  cruel,  a 
frantic,  curiosity  out  of  Jerusalem,  and  left  it  the  solitude 
.  that  had  surprised  me.  Preternatural  eclipse  and  horror 
fell  on  them,  and  their  thousands  madly  rushed  back  to 
perish,  if  perish  they  must,  within  the  walls  of  the  City 
of  Holiness.  Still  the  multiude  came  pouring  in;  their 
distant  trampling  had  the  sound  of  a  cataract;  and  their 
outcries  of  pain,  and  rage,  and  terror,  were  like  what  I 
have  since  heard,  but  more  feebly,  sent  up  from  the  field 
of  battle. 

I  struggled  on,  avoiding  the  living  torrent  by  the  ear, 
and  slowly  threading  my  way  wherever  I  heard  the  voices 
least  numerous;  but  my  task  was  one  of  extreme  toil;  and 
but  for  those  more  than  the  treasures  of  the  earth  to  me, 
whose  lives  depended  on  my  efforts,  I  should  willingly 
have  lain  down,  and  suffered  the  multitude  to  trample  me 
into  the  grave.     How  long  I  thus  struggled,  I  know  not.  ~ 
But,  a  yell  of  peculiar  and  universal  terror  that  burst 
round   me,   made   me   turn   my   reluctant   eyes   towards  *• 
Jerusalem.     The  cause  of  this  new  alarm  was  seen  at  ^ 
once.^ 

A  large  sphere  of  fire  fiercely  shot  through  the  heav- 
ens, lighting  its  track  down  the  murky  air,  and  casting  a 
disastrous  and  pallid  illumination  on  the  myriads  of  gaz- 
ers below.  It  stopped  above  the  city;  and  exploded  in 
thunder,  flashing  over  the  whole  horizon,  but  covering  the 
Temple  with  a  blaze  which  gave  it  the  aspect  of  a  huge 
mass  of  metal  glowing  in  the  furnace.  Every  out- 
line of  the  architecture,  every  pillar,  every  pinnacle,  was 
seen  with  a  livid  and  terrible  distinctness.  Again,  all  van- 
ished. I  heard  the  hollow  roar  of  an  earthquake;  the 
ground  rose  and  heaved  under  our  feet.  I  heard  the 
crash  of  buildings,  the  fall  of  fragments  of  the  hills,  and,?, 
louder  than  both,  the  groan  of  the  multitude.  I  caught 
my  wife  and  child  closer  to  my  bosom.  In  the  next  mo- 
ment, I  felt  the  ground  give  way  beneath  me,  a  sulphurous 
vapor  took  away  my  breath;  and  I  was  swept  into  the 
air,  in  a  whirlwind  of  dust  and  ashes ! 


38  8ALATHIE-L. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

WHEN  I  recovered  my  senses,  all  was  so  much  changed 
round  me,  that  I  could  scarcely  be  persuaded  that  either 
the  past  or  the  present  was  not  a  dream.  I  had  no  con- 
sciousness of  any  interval  between  them,  more  than  that 
of  having  closed  my  eyes  at  one  instant,  to  open  them  at 

^  the  next.  Yet  the  curtains  of  a  tent  waved  round  me,  in 
a  breeze  fragrant  with  the  breath  of  roses  and  balsam 

''  trees.  Beyond  the  gardens  and  meadows,  from  which 
those  odors  sprang,  a  river  shone,  like  a  path  of  lapis  lazuli, 
in  the  calm  effulgence  of  the  western  sun.  Tents  were 
pitched,  from  which  I  heard  the  sounds  of  pastoral  in- 
struments; camels  were  drinking  and  grazing  along  the 
riverside;  and  turbaned  men  and  maidens  were  ranging 
over  the  fields,  or  sitting  on  the  banks  to  enjoy  the  cool 

~ 


of  the  delicious  evening.  £/~Q/T 

While  I  tried  to  collect  my  senses,  and  discover  wheth- 
er this  was  more  than  one  of  those  sports  of  a  wayward 
fancy  which  tantalize  the  bed  of  the  sick  mind,  I  heard 
a  low  hymn,  and  listened  to  the  sounds  with  breathlesss 
anxiety.  The  voice  I  knew  at  once  —  it  was  Miriam's.  But, 
in  the  disorder  of  my  brain,  and  the  strange  circum- 
stances which  had  filled  the  latter  days,  in  that  total 
feebleness,  too,  in  which  I  could  not  move  a  limb  or  utter  ' 
a  word,  a  persuasion  seized  me  that  I  was  already  bej^ond  I 
the  final  boundary  of  mortals.  All  before  me  was  like  that 
paradise,  from  which  the  crime  of  our  great  forefather 
had  driven  man  into  banishment.  I  remembered  the  con- 
vulsion of  the  earth  in  which  I  had  sunk;  and  asked  my- 
self, could  man  be  wrapped  in  the  flame,  and  the  whirl- 
wind that  tore  up  mountains  like  the  roots  of  flowers,  and 
yet  live  ?  , 

In  this  perplexity,  I  closed  my  eyes  to  collect  my 
thoughts,  and  probably  exhibited  some  strong  emotion 
of  countenance,  for  I  was  roused  by  a  cry  —  "He  lives,  he 
lives!"  I  looked  up  —  Miriam  stood  before  me,  clasping 
her  lovely  hands  with  the  wildness  of  joy  unspeakabl 
and  shedding  tears,  that  large  and  lustrous  fell  down  her 
Blowing  cheeks,  like  dew  upon  the  pomegranate.  She 
threw  herself  upon  my  pillow,  kissed  my  forehead  with  lips 
that  broathcd  new  life  into  me  ;  then  pressing  my  chill  hand 
between  hers,  knelt  down,  and  with  a  look  worthy  of  that 


SALATHIEL.  39 

heaven  on  which  it  was  fixed,  radiant  with  beauty,  and 
holiness,  and  joy,  as  the  face  of  an  angel,  offered  up  her  £ 
thanksgiving. 

The  explanation  of  the  scene  that  perplexed  me  was 
given  in  a  few  words,  interrupted  only  by  tears  and  sighs 
of  delight.  With  the  burst  of  the  earthquake,  the  super- 
natural darkness  had  cleared  away.  I  was  flung  under 
the  shelter  of  one  of  those  caves  which  abound  in  the 
gorges  of  the  mountains  round  Jerusalem.  Miriam  and 
her  infant  were  flung  by  my  side,  yet  unhurt.  While  I 
lay  insensible  in  her  arms,  she,  by  singular  good  for- 
tune, found  herself  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  our  kinsmen, 
returning  from  the  city,  where  terror  had  suffered  but  few 
to  remain.  They  placed  her  and  her  infant  on  their  cam- 
els. Me  they  would  have  consigned  to  the  sepulchre  of 
the  priests;  but  Miriam  was  not  to  be  shaken  in  her  pur- 
pose, to  watch  over  me  until  all  hope  was  gone.  I  was 
thus  carried  along;  and  they  were  now  three  days  on 
their  journey  homewards.  The  landscape  before  me  was 
Samaria. 

My  natural  destination  would  have  been  the  cities  of 
the  priests,  which  lay  to  the  south,  bordering  upon  He- 
bron. In  those  thirteen  opulent  and  noble  residences  al- 
lotted to  the  higher  ministry  of  the  Temple,  they  enjoyed 
all  that  could  be  offered  by  the  munificent  wisdom  of  the 
state ;  wealth,  that  raised  them  above  the  pressures  of  life, 
yet  not  so  great  as  to  extinguish  the  desire  of  intellectual 
distinction,  or  the  love  of  the  loftier  virtues. — The  means 
of  mental  cultivation  were  provided  for  them  with  more 
than  royal  liberality.  Copies  of  the  sacred  books,  multi- 
plied in  every  form,  and  adorned  with  the  finest  skill  of 
the  pencil,  and  the  sculptor  in  gold  and  other  materials, 
attested  at  once  the  reverence  of  the  nation  for  its  law,  and 
the  perfection  to  which  it  had  brought  the  decorative  arts. 
The  works  of  strangers,  eminent  for  genius  or  knowledge, 
or  even  for  the  singularity  of  their  subject,  were  not  less 
to  be  found  in  those  stately  treasure  houses  of  mind. 
There  the  priest  might  relax  his  spirit  from  the  sublimer 
studies  of  his  country,  by  the  bold  and  brilliant  epics  of 
Greece;  the  fantastic  passion,  and  figured  beauty  of  the 
Persian  poesy;  or  the  alternate  severity  and  sweetness  of 
the  Indian  drama — that  startling  union  of  all  lovely  im- 
ages of  nature,  the  bloom  and  fragrance  of  flowers^  the 


40  SALATHIEL. 

hues  of  the  Oriental  heaven,  and  the  perfumes  of  isles  of 
spice  and  cinnamon,  with  the  grim  and  subterranean  ter- 
rors of  a  gigantic  idolatry.  There  he  might  spread  the 
philosophic  wing  from  the  glittering  creations  of  Grecian 
metaphysics,  to  their  dark  and  early  oracles  in  the  East; 
or,  stopping  in  his  central  flight,  plunge  into  the  profound 
of  Egyptian  mystery,  where  science  lies,  like  the  mummy, 
wrapped  in  a  thousand  folds  that  preserve  the  form,  but 
preserve  it  with  the  living  principle  gone. 

Music,  of  all  pleasures  the  most  intellectual,  that  glori- 
ous painting  to  the  ear,  that  rich  mastery  of  the  gloomier 
emotions  of  our  nature,  was  studied  by  the  priesthood  with 
a  skill  that  influenced  the  habits  of  the  country.  How 
often  have  my  fiercest  perturbations  sunk,  at  the  sounds 
that  once  filled  the  breezes  of  Judea!  How  often,  when 
my  brain  was  burning,  and  the  blood  ran  through  my 
veins  like  molten  brass,  have  I  been  softened  down  to  pain- 
less tears,  by  the  chorus  from  our  hills,  the  mellow  har- 
monies of  harp  and  horn,  blending  with  the  voices  of  the 
youths  and  maidens  of  Israel !  How  often  have  I  in  the 
night  listened,  while  the  chant,  ascending  with  a  native 
richness  to  which  the  skill  of  other  nations  was  dissonance, 
floated  upwards  like  a  cloud  of  incense,  bearing  the  as- 
pirations of  holiness  and  gratitude  to  the  throne  of  Him 
whom  man  hath  not  seen  nor  can  see ! 

But,  those  times  are  sunk  deep  in  the  great  gulf  that 
absorbs  the  happiness  and  genius  of  man.  I  have  since 
traversed  my  country  in  its  length  and  breadth;  I  have 
marked  with  my  weary  feet  every  valley,  and  made  my 
restless  bed  upon  every  hill  from  Idumea  to  Lebanon, 
and  from  the  Assyrian  sands  to  the  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean; yet  the  harp  and  voice  were  dead.  I  heard 
sounds  on  the  hills ;  but  they  were  the  cries  of  the  villagers 
flying  before  some  tyrant  gatherer  of  a  tyrant's  tribute. 
I  heard  sounds  in  the  midnight;  but  they  were  the  howl 
of  the  wolf,  and  the  yell  of  the  hyena,  revelling  over  the 
naked  and  dishonored  graves,  which  the  infidel  had  given 
in  his  scorn,  to  the  people  of  my  fathers. 

But,  the  study  to  which  the  largest  expenditures  of 
wealth  and  labor  was  devoted,  was,  as  it  ought  to  be,  that 
of  the  sacred  books  of  Israel.  It  only  makes  me  rebellious 
against  the  decrees  of  fate,  to  think  of  the  incomparable 
richness  and  immaculate  character  of  the  volumes,  over 


SALATHIEL.  41 

which  I  have  so  often  hung,  and  look  upon  the  diminished 
and  degraded  exterior  in  which  their  wisdom  now  lies  be- 
fore man.  Where  are  now  the  cases  covered  with  jewels, 
the  clasps  of  topaz  and  diamond  ?  the  golden  arks  in  which 
the  volume  of  the  hope  of  Israel  lay,  too  precious  not  to 
be  humiliated  by  the  contact  with  even  the  richest  treas- 
ure of  earth?  Where  are  the  tissued  curtains,  that  hid, 
as  in  a  sanctuary,  that  mighty  roll,  too  sacred  to  be 
glanced  on  by  the  casual  eye  ?  But,  the  spoiler — the  spoil- 
er! The  Arab,  the  Parthian,  the  human  tiger  of  the 
north,  that  lies  crouching  for  a  thousand  years  in  the 
sheep  fold  of  Judah !  Is  there  not  a  sword  ? — Is  there  not 
a  judgment? — Terribly  will  it  judge  the  oppressor. 

The  home  of  my  kinsmen  was  in  the  allotment  of 
Naphtali.  The  original  tribe  had  revolted  in  the  general 
schism  of  the  kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel;  and  was 
swept  into  the  Assyrian  captivity.  But  on  the  restoration 
by  Cyrus,  fragments  of  all  the  captive  tribes  returned, 
and  were  suffered  to  resume  their  lands.  Misfortune 
wrought  its  moral  on  them :  the  chief  families  pledged 
their  allegiance  once  more  to  Judah,  and  were  exemplary 
in  paying  homage  to  the  spirit  and  ordinances  of  their 
religion. 

We  speeded  through  the  soil  of  Samaria.  The  ran- 
corous enmity  borne  by  the  Samaritans  to  the  subjects 
of  Judah,  for  ages  made  all  intercourse  between  Jerusalem 
and  the  north  difficult.  It  was  often  totally  interrupted 
by  war — it  was  dangerous  in  peace;  and  the  ferocious 
character  of  the  population,  and  the  bitter  antipathy  of 
the  government,  made  it  to  the  Jew  a  land  of  robbers. 
But,  among  the  evils  of  the  Roman  conquest,  was  mingled 
this  good,  that  it  suffered  no  subordinate  tyranny.  Its 
sword  cut  away  at  a  blow  all  those  minor  oppressions 
which  make  the  misery  of  provincial  life.  If  the  moun- 
tain robber  invaded  the  plain,  as  was  his  custom  of  old, 
the  Roman  cavalry  were  instantly  on  him  with  the  spear, 
until  he  took  refuge  in  the  mountains — if  he  resisted  in 
his  native  fastnesses,  the  legionaries  pursued  him  with 
torch  and  sword,  stifled  him  if  he  remained  in  his  cave, 
or  stabbed  him  at  its  mouth.  If  quarrels  arose  between 
villages,  the  cohorts  burned  them  to  the  ground;  and  the 
execution  was  done  with  a  promptitude  and  complete- 
ness that  less  resembled  the  ordinary  operations  of  war 


4<J  SALATHIEL. 

than  the  work  of  superhuman  power.  The  Roman  knowl- 
edge of  our  disturbances  was  instantaneous.  Signals  es- 
tablished on  the  hills  conveyed  intelligence  with  the  speed 
of  light,  from  the  remotest  corners  of  the  land  to  their 
principal  stations.  Even  in  our  subsequent  conspiracies, 
"the  first  knowledge  that  they  had  broken  out  was  often 
conveyed  to  their  partisans  in  the  next  district  by  the 
movement  of  the  Roman  troops.  Well  had  they  chosen 
the  eagle  for  their  ensign.  They  rushed  with  the  eagle's . 
rapidity  on  their  victim;  and  when  it  was  stretched  in 
blood,  they  left  the  spot  of  vengeance,  as  if  they  had  left 
it  on  the  wing.  Their  advance  had  the  rapidity  of  the 
most  hurried  retreat,  and  the  steadiness  of  the  most  secure 
triumph.  Their  retreat  left  nothing  behind,  but  the  marks 
of  their  irresistible  power.  . 

*  All  the  armies  of  the  earth  have  since  passed  before 
me.  I  have  seen  the  equals  of  the  legions  in  courage  and 
discipline;  and  their  superiors  in  those  arms  by  which 
human  life  is  at  the  caprice  of  ambition.  But  their  equals 
I  have  never  seen,  in  the  individual  fitness  of  the  soldier 
for  war;  in  his  fleetness,  muscular  vigor,  and  expertness 
in  the  use  of  his  weapons;  in  his  quick  adaptation  to  all 
the  multiplied  purposes  of  the  ancient  campaign — from 
the  digging  of  a  trench,  or  the  management  of  a  catapult, 
to  the  assault  of  a  citadel;  in  his  iron  endurance  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  climate;  in  the  length  and  regularity  of 
his  marches;  or  in  the  rapidity,  boldness,  and  dexterity 
of  his  manoeuvre  in  the  field.  Yet,  it  is  but  a  melancholy 
tribute  to  the  valor  of  my  countrymen,  to  record  the  Ro- 
man acknowledgment,  that  of  all  the  nations  conquered  by 
Rome,  Judea  bore  the  chain  with  the  haughtiest  dignity, 
and  most  frequently  and  fiercely  contested  the  supremacy 
of  the  sword. 

Under  that  stern  supremacy,  the  Samaritan  had  long 
rested;  and  flourished  in  exemption  from  the  harassing 
cruelty  of  petty  war.  We  now  passed  with  our  long 
caravan  unguarded,  and  moving  at  will  through  fields 
rich  with  the  luxuriance  of  an  Eastern  summer,  where 
our  fathers  would  have  scarcely  ventured,  but  with  an 
army.  I  made  no  resistance  to  being  thus  led  away  to  a 
region  ?o  remote  from  my  own.  To  have  returned  to 
the  cities  of  the  priests  would  have  but  given  me  hourly 
agony.  ?  Even  the  gates  of  Jerusalem  were  to  my  feelings 


SAL  ATE  I  EL.  43 


.   anathema.     The  whole  fabric  of  mind  had  undergone  a 

C  revolution ;  like  a  man  tossed  at  the  mercy  of  the  tempest, 

I  sought  but  a  shore — and  all  shores  were  alike  to  him 

who  must  be  an  exile  f 01 
y^^-^-s^p-^r-^ 

CHAPTEK  V. 

THE  country  through  which  we  passed,  after  leaving 
the  boundaries  of  Samaria — where,  with  all  its  peace,  no 
Jew  could  tread  but  as  in  the  land  of  strangers — was  new 
to  me.  My  life  had  been  till  now  spent  in  study,  or  in 
serving  the  altar;  and  I  had  heard,  with  the  usual  and 
unwise  indifference  of  men  devoted  to  books,  the  praise 
of  the  picturesque  and  stately  provinces  that  still  remained 
to  our  people.  I  was  now  to  see  for  myself;  and  was 
often  compelled,  as  we  advanced,  to  reproach  the  idle 
prejudice  that  had  so  long  deprived  me,  and  might  forever 
deprive  so  many  of  my  consecrated  brethren,  of  an  en- 
joyment cheering  to  the  human  heart,  and  full  of  lofty 
and  hallowed  memory  to  the  man  of  Israel.  As  we  passed 
along,  less  travelling  than  wandering  at  pleasure,  through 
regions  where  every  winding  of  the  marble  hill,  or  descent 
of  the  fruitful  valley,  showed  us  some  sudden  and  romantic 
beauty  of  landscape,  my  kinsmen  took  a  natural  pride  in 
pointing  out  the  noble  features  that  made  Canaan  a  living 
history  of  Providence. 

What  were  even  the  trophy-covered  hills  of  Greece,  or 
the  monumental  plains  of  Italy,  to  the  hills  and  plains 
where  the  memorial  told  of  the  miracles  and  the  presence 
of  the  Supreme?  "Look  at  that  rock,"  they  would  ex- 
claim ;  "there  descended  the  angel  of  the  Presence !  On 
the  summit  of  that  cloudy  ridge  stood  Ezekiel,  when  he 
paw  the  vision  of  the  latter  days.  Look  to  yonder  cleft  in 
the  mountains;  there  fell  the  lightning  from  heaven  on 
the  Philistine."  In  our  travel  we  reached  a  valley,  a  spot 
of  singular  beauty  and  seclusion,  blushing  with  flowers, 
and  sheeted  with  the  olive  from  its  edge  down  to  a  stream 
that  rushed  brightly  through  its  bosom.  There  was  no 
dwelling  of  man  in  it ;  but  on  a  gentler  slope  of  the  de- 
elivity  stood  a  gigantic  terebinth  tree.  More  than  cu- 
riosity was  attracted  to  this  delicious  spot;  for  the  laugh 
and  talking  of  the  caravan  had  instantly  subsided  at  the 


44  SALATHIEL. 

sight.  All,  by  a  common  impulse,  dismounted  from  their 
horses  and  camels;  and  though  it  was  still  far  from  sun- 
set, the  tents  were  pitched,  and  preparations  made  for 
prayer.  The  spot  reminded  me  of  the  valley  of  Hebron, 
sacred  to  the  Jewish  heart,  as  the  burial-place  of  Abraham, 
Sarah,  and  Isaac; — may  they  sleep  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Lord !  The  terebinth  tree,  under  which  the  greatest  of  the 
patriarchs  sat  and  talked  with  the  angels — the  fountain — 
the  cave  of  Macpelah,  in  which  his  mortal  frame  re- 
turned to  the  earth,  to  come  again  in  glory,  appeared  to 
lie  before  me. 

From  the  day  of  my  unspeakable  crime,  I  had  never 
joined  in  prayer  with  my  people.  Yet,  I  was  still  a  be- 
liever in  the  faith  of  Israel.  I  even  clung  to  it  with  the 
nervous  violence  of  one  who,  in  a  shipwreck,  feels  that 
his  only  hope  is  the  plank  in  his  grasp;  and  that  some 
more  powerful  hand  is  tearing  even  that  plank  away. 
But,  the  sight  of  human  beings  enjoying  the  placid  conso- 
lations of  prayer,  had  from  the  first  moment  overwhelmed 
me  with  so  keen  a  sense  of  my  misfortune — the  pious  gen- 
tleness of  attitude  and  voice — the  calm  uplifted  hand,  and 
low  and  solemn  aspiration,  were  in  so  deep  a  contrast  to 
the  involuntary  wildness  and  broken  utterings  of  a  heart 
bound  in  more  than  adamantine  chains;  that  I  shrank 
from  the  rebuke,  and  groaned  in  solitude. 

I  went  forth  into  the  valley,  and  was  soon  lost  in  its 
thick  vegetation.  The  sound  of  the  hymn,  that  sank  down 
in  mingled  sweetness  with  the  murmuring  of  the  evening 
air  through  the  leaves,  and  the  bubbling  of  the  brook  be- 
low, alone  told  me  that  I  was  near  human  beings.  I  sat 
upon  a  fragment  of  turf,  embroidered  as  never  was  king- 
ly footstool,  and  with  my  hands  clasped  on  my  eyes,  to 
remove  from  me  all  the  images  of  life,  gave  way  to  that 
visionary  mood  of  mind,  in  which  ideas  come  and  pass 
in  crowds  without  shape,  and  leaving  no  more  impression 
than  the  drops  of  a  sun-shower  on  the  trees.  I  had  re- 
mained long  in  this  half-dreaming  confusion,  and  had 
almost  imagined  myself  transported  to  some  intermediate 
realm  of  being,  where  a  part  of  the  infliction  was  that  of 
being  startled  by  keen  flashes  of  light  from  some  upper 
world,  when  I  was  roused  by  the  voice  of  Eleazar,  the 
brother  of  Miriam,  at  my  side.  His  manly  and  generous 
countenance  expressed  mingled  anxiety  and  gladness  at 


SALATHIEL.  45 

discovering  me.  "The  whole  camp,"  said  he,  "have  been 
alarmed  at  your  absence,  and  have  searched,  for  these 
three  hours,  through  every  part  of  our  day's  journey. 
Miriam's  distraction  at  length  urged  me  to  leave  her;  and 
it  was  by  her  instinct  that  I  took  my  way  down  the  only 
path  hitherto  unsearched,  and  where,  indeed,  from  fear 
or  reverence  of  the  place,  few  but  myself  would  have 
willingly  come."  He  called  to  an  attendant,  and,  send- 
ing him  up  the  side  of  the  valley  with  the  tidings,  we 
followed  slowly,  for  I  was  still  feeble.  As  we  emerged 
into  an  opener  space,  the  moon  lying  on  masses  of  cloud, 
like  a  queen  pillowed  on  couches  of  silver,  showed  me, 
in  her  strong  illumination  of  the  forest,  the  flashes  which 
had  added  to  the  bewildered  pain  of  my  reverie.  While 
I  talked  with  natural  animation  of  the  splendor  of  the 
heavens,  and  pointed  out  the  lines  and  figures  on  the 
moon's  disk,  which  made  it  probable  that  it  was,  like 
earth,  a  place  of  habitation ;  he  suddenly  pressed  my  hand, 
and  stopping,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  my  face,  "How,"  said 
he,  "does  it  happen,  my  friend,  my  brother  Salathiel?" — 
I  started,  as  if  my  name,  the  name  of  my  illustrious  an- 
cestor, direct  in  descent  from  the  father  of  the  faithful, 
were  an  accusation.  He  proceeded  with  but  a  more  ar- 
dent pressure  of  my  quivering  hand — "How  is  it  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  that  you,  with  such  contemplations,  and  the 
knowledge  that  gives  them  the  dignity  of  science,  can 
yet  be  so  habitually  given  over  to  gloom?  Serious  crime 
I  will  not  believe  in  you ;  though  the  best  of  us  are  stained. 
But  your  character  is  pure;  I  know  your  nature  to  be  too 
lofty  for  the  degenerate  indulgence  of  the  passions;  and 
Miriam's  love  for  you,  a  love  passing  that  of  women,  is,  in 
itself,  a  seal  of  virtue.  Answer  me — can  the  wealth, 
power,  or  influence  of  your  brother  and  his  house,  nay  of 
his  tribe,  assist  you  ?" 

I  was  silent.  He  paused;  and  we  walked  on  awhile, 
without  a  sound  but  that  of  our  tread  among  the  leaves: 
but  his  mind  was  full,  and  it  would  have  way.  "Salathiel," 
said  he,  "you  do  injustice  to  yourself,  to  your  wife,  and 
to  your  friends.  This  gloom  that  sits  eternally  on  your 
forehead,  must  wear  away  all  your  uses  in  society;  it 
bathes  your  incomparable  wife's  pillow  in  tears;  and  it 
disheartens,  nay  distresses  us  all.  Answer  me  as  one  man 
of  honor  and  integrity  would  another.  Have  you  been 


46  BALATBIEL. 

disappointed  in  your  ambition?  I  know  your  claims. 
You  have  knowledge  surpassing  that  of  a  multitude  of 
your  contemporaries;  you  have  talents  that  ought  to  be 
honored;  your  character  is  unimpeached  and  unimpeach- 
able. Such  things  ought  to  have  already  raised  you  to 
eminence.  Have  you  found  yourself  thwarted  by  the  com- 
mon artifice  of  official  life?  Has  some  paltry  sycophant 
crept  up  before  you  by  the  oblique  path  that  honor  dis- 
dains ?  Or  have  you  felt  yourself  an  excluded  and  marked 
man,  merely  for  the  display  of  that  manlier  vigor,  richer 
genius,  and  more  generous  and  sincere  impulse  of  heart, 
which  to  the  conscious  inferiority  of  the  rabble  of  under- 
standing, is  gall  and  wormwood?  Or  have  you  taken 
too  deeply  into  your  resentment,  the  common  criminal 
negligence  that  besets  common  minds  in  power,  and  makes 
them  carelessly  fling  away  upon  incapacity,  and  guiltily 
withhold  from  worth,  the  rewards  which  were  intrusted 
to  them,  as  a  sacred  deposit,  for  the  encouragement  of  na- 
tional ability  and  personal  virtue?" 

I  strongly  disavowed  all  conceptions  of  the  kind;  and 
assured  him  that  I  felt  neither  peculiar  merits  nor  pe- 
culiar injuries.  "I  had  seen  too  much  of  what  ambition 
and  worldly  success  were  made  of,  to  allow  hope  to  excite, 
or  failure  to  depress  me.  I  am  even/'  added  I,  "so  far 
from  being  the  slave  of  that  most  vulgar  intemperance  of 
a  deranged  heart,  the  diseased  craving  for  the  miserable 
indulgences  of  worldly  distinction,  that  would  to  heaven 
I  might  never  again  enter  the  gates  of  Jerusalem!" 

He  started  back  in  surprise.  The  confession  had  been 
altogether  unintended ;  and  I  looked  up  to  see  the  burst  of 
Jewish  wrath  descending  upon  me.  I  saw  none.  My 
kinsman's  fine  countenance  was  brightened  with  a  lofty 
joy.  "Then  you  have  renounced.  But  no,  it  is  yet  too 
soon.  At  your  age,  with  your  prospects,  can  you  have  re- 
nounced the  career  offered  to  you  among  the  rulers  of 
Israel?" 

"I  have  renounced." 
"Sincerely,  solemnly,  upon  conviction?" 
"From  the  bottom  of  my  soul,  now  and  forever !" 
We  had  reached  the  open  space  in  front  of  the  tere- 
binth tree  that  stood  in  majesty,   extending  its   stately 
branches  over  a  space  cleared  of  all  other  trees,  a  sover- 
eign of  the  forest.    In  silence  he  led  me  under  the  shade 


8ALATHIEL.  4? 

to  a  small  tomb,  on  which  the  light  fell  with  broken 
lustre.  "This,"  said  he,  "is  the  tomb  of  the  greatest 
prophet,  on  whose  lips  the  wisdom  of  heaven  ever  burned. 
There  sleeps  Isaiah !  There  is  silent  the  voice,  that  for 
fifty  years  spoke  more  than  the  thoughts  of  man  in  the 
ears  of  a  guilty  people.  There  are  cold  the  hands,  that 
struck  the  harp  of  more  than  mortal  sounds  to  the  glory 
of  Him,  to  whom  earth  and  its  kingdoms  are  but  as  the 
dust  of  the  balance.  There  lies  the  heart,  which  neither 
the  desert  nor  the  dungeon,  nor  the  teeth  of  the  lion,  nor 
the  saw  of  Manasseh,  could  tame: — the  denouncer  of  our 
crimes — the  scourge  of  our  apostasy — the  prophet  of  that 
desolation  which  was  to  bow  the  grandeur  of  J  udah  to  the 
grave,  as  the  tree  of  the  mountain  in  the  whirlwind.  Saint 
and  martyr,  let  my  life  be  as  thine;  and  if  it  be  the 
will  of  God,  let  my  death  be  even  as  thine." 

He  threw  himself  on  his  knees,  and  remained  in  prayer 
for  a  time.  I  knelt  with  him,  but  no  prayer  would  issue 
from  my  heart.  He  at  length  rose,  and,  leading  me  into 
the  moonlight,  said,  in  a  low  voice:  "Is  there  not,  where 
the  holy  sleep,  a  holiness  in  the  very  ground?  I  waive 
all  the  superstitious  feelings  of  the  idolator,  worshipping 
the  dust  of  the  creature,  for  the  king  alike  of  all.  I  pass 
over  the  natural  human  homage  for  the  memory  of  those, 
who  have  risen  above  us  by  the  great  qualities  of  their 
being.  But  if  there  are  supernal  influences  acting  upon  the 
mind  of  man;  if  the  winged  spirits  that  minister  before 
the  throne  still  descend  to  earth  on  missions  of  mercy,  I 
frill  believe  that  their  loved  place  is  round  the  grave  where 
sleeps  the  mortal  portion  of  the  holy.  In  all  our  journeys 
to  the  Temple,  it  has  been  the  custom  of  our  shattered  and 
humiliated  tribe  to  pause  beside  this  tomb,  and  offer  up 
our  homage  to  that  mightiest  of  the  mighty,  who  made 
such  men  for  the  lights  of  Israel !"  He  then  earnestly 
repeated  the  question — "Have  you  abandoned  your  of- 
fice?"— "Yes,"  was  the  answer,  "totally;  with  full  pur- 
pose never  to  resume  it.  In  your  mountains  I  will  live 
with  you,  and  with  you  I  will  die."  Memory  smote  me  as 
I  pronounced  the  word:  the  refuge  of  the  grave  was  not 
for  me ! 

"Then,"  said  he,  "you  have  relieved  my  spirit  of  a 
load;  you  are  now  my  more  than  brother."  He  clasped 
me  in  his  arms.  "Yes,  Salathiel,  I  know  that  jour  high 


48  SALATHIEL. 

heart  must  have  scorned  the  prejudices  of  the  Scribe  and 
the  Pharisee;  you  must  have  seen  through,  and  loathed 
the  smiling  hypocrisy,  the  rancorous  bigotry,  and  the  furi- 
ous thirst  of  blood,  that  are  hourly  sinking  us  below  the 
lowest  of  the  heathen.  Hating  the  tyranny  of  the  Roman ; 
as  I  live  this  hour,  I  would  rather  see  the  city  of  David 
inhabited  by  none  but  the  idolater,  or  delivered  over  to 
the  curse  of  Babylon,  and  made  the  couch  of  the  lion  and 
the  serpent;  than  see  its  courts  filled  with  those  impious 
traitors  to  the  spirit  of  the  law,  those  cruel  extortioners 
under  the  mask  of  self-denial  those  malignant  revellers 
in  human  torture  under  the  name  of  insulted  religion; 
whose  joy  is  crime,  and  every  hour  of  whose  being  but 
wearies  the  long-suffering  of  God,  and  precipitates  the 
ruin  of  my  country." 

He  drew  from  his  bosom,  and  unrolled  in  the  moon- 
light a  small  copy  of  the  Scriptures:  "My  brother," 
said  he,  "have  you  read  the  holy  prophecies  of  him  by 
whose  grave  we  stand  ?"  My  only  answer  was  a  smile ;  they 
were  the  chief  study  of  the  priesthood.  "True,"  said  he; 
"no  doubt,  you  have  read  the  words  of  the  prophet.  But 
Wisdom  is  known  of  her  children,  and  of  them  alone. 
Eead  here." 

I  read  the  famous  Haphtorah:  "Who  hath  believed 
our  report?  and  to  whom  is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed? 
For  he  shall  grow  up  before  him  as  a  tender  plant,  and 
as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground :  he  hath  no  form  nor  come- 
liness ;  and  when  we  shall  see  him,  there  is  no  beauty  that 
we  should  desire  him.  He  is  despised  and  rejected  of 
men ;  a  man  of  sorrows !" 

He  stopped  me,  laying  his  hand  on  my  arm ;  I  felt  his 
strong  nerves  tremble  like  an  infant's.  "Of  whom  hath 
the  prophet  spoken?"  uttered  he  in  a  voice  of  intense 
anxiety.  "Of  whom?  of  the  Deliverer,  that  is  to  restore 
Judah;  him  that  is  to  come,"  was  my  answer.  "Him 
that  is  to  come — still  to  come?"  he  exclaimed.  "God  of 
heaven,  must  the  veil  be  forever  on  the  face  of  thy  Israel  ? 
When  shall  our  darkness  be  light;  and  the  chain  of  our 
spirit  be  broken !"  The  glow  and  power  of  his  counte- 
nance sank ;  he  took  the  roll  with  a  sigh,  and  replaced  it  in 
his  robe;  then  with  his  hands  clasped  across  his  bosom, 
and  his  head  bowed,  he  led  our  silent  way  up  the  side 
of  the  valley. 


BALATHIEL.  49 

CHAPTER  VI. 

WE  soon  reached  the  hill  country,  and  our  road  passed 
through  what  were  once  the  allotments  of  Issachar,  Za- 
bulon,  and  Asher;  but  by  the  Roman  division,  was  now 
Upper  Galilee.  My  health  had  been  rapidly  restored  by 
the  exercise  and  the  balmy  air.  My  more  incurable  disease 
was  prevented  by  the  journey  from  perhaps  totally  en- 
grossing my  mind.  Of  all  the  antagonists  to  mental  de- 
pression, travelling  is  the  most  vigorous;  not  the  flight 
from  place  to  place,  as  if  evil  were  to  be  outrun ;  nor  the 
enclosure  of  the  weary  of  life  in  some  narrow  vehicle  that 
adds  fever  and  pestilence  to  heaviness  of  heart;  but  the 
passing  at  our  ease  through  the  open  air  and  bright  land- 
scape of  a  new  country.  To  me  the  novelty  and  loveli- 
ness of  the  land  were  combined  with  the  memory  of  the 
most  striking  events  in  human  record.  I  had,  too,  the 
advantage  of  companionship,  which  would  have  enlivened 
travel  through  the  wilderness — brave  and  cheerful  men, 
and  women  on  whose  minds  and  forms  nature  laid  her 
finest  stamp  of  beauty. 

The  name  of  Jew  is  now  but  another  title  for  humilia- 
tion. Who  that  sees  that  fallen  thing,  with  his  counte- 
nance bent  to  the  ground,  and  his  form  withered  of  its 
comeliness,  tottering  through  the  proud  streets  of  Europe 
in  some  degrading  occupation,  and  clothed  in  the  robes 
of  the  beggared  and  the  despised,  could  imagine  the  bold 
figures  and  gallant  bearing  of  the  lion  hunters,  with  whom, 
in  the  midst  of  shouts  and  songs  of  careless  joy,  I  spurred 
my  barb  up  the  mountain  paths  of  Galilee !  Yet,  fallen 
as  he  is,  the  physiognomy  of  the  Jew  retains  a  share  of  its 
original  impress,  sufficient  to  establish  the  claim  of  the 
people  to  have  been  the  handsomest  race  on  earth.  Indi- 
viduals of  superior  comeliness  may  often  be  found  among 
the  multitudes  of  mankind.  But  no  nation,  nor  distinct 
part  of  any  nation,  can  rival  an  equal  number  of  the  un- 
happy exiles  of  Israel,  in  the  original  impress  of  that 
hand  which  made  man  only  a  little  lower  than  the  angels. 
To  conceive  the  Jew  as  he  was,  we  should  conceive  the 
stern  and  watchful  contraction  of  the  dark  eye  expanded; 
the  fierce  and  ridgy  brow  louring  no  more;  the  lip  no 
longer  gathered  in  habitual  fear  or  scorn;  the  cheek  no 
longer  sallow  with  want  or  pining,  and  the  whole  man 


50  8ALATBIEL. 

elevated  by  the  returning  consciousness  that  he  has  a 
rank  among  nations.  All  his  deformities  have  been  the 
birth  of  his  misfortunes.  What  beauty  can  we  demand 
from  the  dungeon? — what  dignity  of  aspect  from  the 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  mankind? 
Where  shall  we  seek  the  magnificent  form  and  illumined 
countenance  of  the  hero  and  the  sage? — from  the  heart 
cankered  by  the  chain,  from  the  plundered,  the  enslaved, 
the  persecuted  of  two  thousand  years? 

Of  the  daughters  of  my  country  I  have  never  seen  the 
equals  in  beauty.  Our  blood  was  Arab,  softened  down  by 
various  changes  of  state  and  climate,  till  it  was  finally 
brought  to  perfection  in  the  most  genial  air,  and  the 
most  generous  soil  of  the  globe.  The  vivid  features  of 
the  Arab  countenance,  no  longer  attenuated  by  the  desert, 
assumed,  in  the  plenty  of  Egypt,  that  fulness  and  fine 
proportion  which  still  belongs  to  the  dwellers  by  the  Nile ; 
but  the  true  change  was  on  our  entrance  into  the  promised 
land.  Peace,  the  possession  of  property,  days  spent  among 
the  cheerful  and  healthful  occupations  of  rural  life,  are 
in  themselves  productive  of  the  finer  developments  of  the 
human  form ;  a  form  whose  natural  tendency  is  to  beauty. 
But  our  nation  had  an  additional  and  an  unshared  source 
of  nobleness  of  aspect ;  it  was  free. 

The  state  of  man  in  the  most  unfettered  republics  of  the 
ancient  world  was  slavery,  compared  with  the  magnan- 
imous and  secure  establishment  of  the  Jewish  common- 
wealth. During  the  three  hundred  golden  years,  from 
Moses  to  Samuel — before,  for  our  sins,  we  were  given 
over  to  the  madness  of  innovation,  and  the  demand  of  an 
earthly  diadem — the  Jew  was  free,  in  the  loftiest  sense  of 
freedom;  free  to  do  all  good;  restricted  only  from  evil; 
every  man  pursuing  the  unobstructed  course  pointed  out 
by  his  genius  or  his  fortune;  every  man  protected  by 
laws  inviolable,  or  whose  violation  was  instantly  visited 
with  punishment  by  the  Eternal  Sovereign  alike  of  ruler 
and  people. 

Freedom!  twin  sister  of  Virtue,  thou  brightest  of  all 
the  spirits  that  descended  in  the  train  of  Eeligion  from 
the  throne  of  God;  thou  that  leadest  up  man  again  to 
the  early  glories  of  his  being;  angel,  from  the  circle  of 
whose  presence  happiness  spreads  like  the  sunrise  over 
the  darkness  of  the  land ;  at  the  waving  of  whose  sceptre. 


SALAT3IEL.  51 

knowledge,  and  peace,  and  fortitude,  and  wisdom,  descend 
upon  the  wing ;  at  the  voice  of-  whose  trumpet  the  more 
than  grave  is  broken,  and  slavery  gives  up  her  dead ;  when 
shall  I  see  thy  coming?  When  shall  I  hear  thy  sum- 
mons upon  the  mountains  of  my  country,  and  rejoice  in 
the  regeneration  of  the  sons  of  Judah?  I  have  traversed 
nations;  and,  as  I  set  my  foot  upon  their  boundary,  I 
have  said,  "Freedom  is  not  here !"  I  saw  the  naked  hill, 
the  morass  steaming  with  death,  the  field  covered  with 
weedy  fallow,  the  sickly  thicket  encumbering  the  land; — 
I  saw  the  still  more  infallible  signs,  the  downcast  visage, 
the  form  degraded  at  once  by  loathsome  indolence  and 
desperate  poverty;  the  peasant  cheerless  and  feeble  in  his 
field,  the  wolfish  robber,  the  population  of  the  cities  crowded 
into  huts  and  cells,  with  pestilence  for  their  fellow ; — I  saw 
the  contumely  of  man  to  man,  the  furious  vindictiveness 
of  popular  rage;  and  I  pronounced  at  the  moment,  "This 
people  is  not  free  I" 

In  the  republics  of  heathen  antiquity,  the  helot,  the 
client  sold  for  the  extortion  of  the  patron,  and  the  born 
bondsman  lingering  out  life  in  thankless  toil,  at  once  put 
to  flight  all  conceptions  of  freedom.  In  the  midst  of  al- 
tars fuming  to  liberty,  of  harangues  glowing  with  the 
most  pompous  protestations  of  scorn  for  servitude,  of 
crowds  inflated  with  the  presumption  that  they  disdained 
a  master,  the  eye  was  insulted  with  the  perpetual  chain. 
The  temple  of  Liberty  was  built  upon  the  dungeon.  Eome 
came,  and  unconsciously  avenged  the  insulted  name  of 
freedom;  the  master  and  the  slave  were  bowed  down  to- 
gether; and  the  dungeon  was  made  the  common  dwelling 
of  all. 

In  the  Italian  republics  of  after  ages,  I  saw  the  vigor 
that,  living  in  the  native  soil  of  empire,  has  always 
sprung  up  on  the  first  call.  The  time  was  changed  since 
Italy  poured  its  legions  over  the  world.  The  volcano  was 
now  sleeping;  yet  the  fire  still  burned  within  its  womb, 
and  threw  out  in  its  invisible  strength  the  luxuriant  qual- 
ities of  the  land  of  power.  The  innate  Eoman  passion 
for  sovereignty  was  no  longer  to  find  its  triumphs  in  the 
field;  but  it  rushed  up  the  paths  of  a  loftier  and  more 
solid  glory,  with  a  speed  and  a  strength  that  left  man- 
kind wondering  below.  The  arts,  adventure,  legislation, 
literature  in  all  its  shapes,  of  the  subtle,  the  rich,  and 


52  SAL  ATBI EL. 

the  sublime,  were  the  peaceful  triumphs,  whose  laurels 
will  entwine  the  Italian  brow,  when  the  wreath  of  the 
Caesars  is  remembered  but  as  a  badge  of  national  folly 
and  individual  crime. 

But  those  republics  knew  freedom  only  in  name.  All, 
within  a  few  years  from  their  birth,  had  abandoned  its 
living  principles — justice,  temperance  and  truth.  I  saw 
the  soldiery  of  neighbor  cities  marching  to  mutual  dev- 
astation, and  I  said,  "Freedom  is  not  here!"  I  saw 
abject  privation  mingled  with  boundless  luxury;  in  the 
midst  of  the  noblest  works  of  architecture,  the  hovel;  in 
the  pomps  of  citizens  covered  with  cloth  of  gold,  gazing 
groups  of  faces  haggard  with  beggary  and  sin;  I  saw  the 
sold  tribunal,  the  inexorable  state  prison,  the  established 
spy,  the  protected  assassin,  the  secret  torture;  and  I  said, 
"Freedom  is  not  here !"  The  pageant  filled  the  streets 
with  more  than  kingly  blazonry,  the  trumpets  flourished, 
the  multitude  shouted,  the  painter  covered  the  walls  with 
immortal  emblems,  in  honor  of  Freedom ;  I  pointed  to  the 
dungeon,  the  rack,  and  the  dagger!  Bitterer  and  deeper 
sign  than  all,  I  pointed  to  the  exile  of  exiles,  the  broken 
man,  whom  even  the  broken  trample,  of  all  the  undone 
the  most  undone,  my  outcast  brother  in  the  blood  of 
Abraham ! 

I  am  not  about  to  be  his  defender;  I  am  not  regard- 
less of  his  tremendous  crime;  I  cannot  stand  up  alone 
against  the  voice  of  universal  man,  which  has  cried  out, 
that  thus  it  shall  be;  but  I  say  it  from  the  depths  of  my 
soul,  and  as  I  hope  for  rest  to  my  miseries,  that  I  never 
saw  freedom  survive  in  that  land  which  loved  to  smite 
the  Jew ! 

I  saw  one  republic  more,  the  mightiest  and  the  last; 
for  the  justice  of  Heaven  on  the  land,  the  most  terrible; 
for  the  mercy  of  Heaven  to  mankind,  the  briefest  in  its 
devastation.  But,  there  all  was  hypocrisy,  that  was  not 
horror ;  the  only  equal  rights  were  those  of  the  equal  rob- 
ber; the  sacred  figure  of  Liberty  veiled  its  face;  and  the 
offering  on  its  violated  shrine  was  the  spoil  of  honor, 
bravery,  and  virtue. 

The  daughters  of  our  nation,  sharing  in  the  rights  of 
its  sons,  bore  the  lofty  impression  that  virtuous  freedom 
always  stamps  on  the  humtn  features.  But  they  had  tfie 
softer  graces  of  their  sex,  in  a  degree  unequalled  in  the 


BALATHIEL.  53 

ancient  world.  While  the  woman  of  the  East  was  im- 
mured within  bolts  and  bars,  from  time  immemorial  a 
prisoner;  and  the  woman  of  the  West  was  a  toy,  a  savage, 
or  a  slave ;  our  wives  and  maidens  enjoyed  the  intercourses 
of  society,  which  their  talents  were  well  calculated  to 
cheer  and  adorn.  They  were  skilled  on  the  harp;  their 
sweet  voices  were  tuned  to  the  richest  strains  of  earth; 
they  were  graceful  in  the  dance;  the  writings  of  our  bards 
were  in  their  hands;  and  what  nation  ever  possessed  such 
illustrious  founts  of  thought  and  virtue!  But,  there  was 
v another  and  a  still  higher  ground  for  that  peculiar  ex- 
pression, which  makes  their  countenance  still  lighten  be- 
fore me,  as  something  of  more  than  mortal  beauty.  The 
earliest  consciousness  of  every  Jewish  woman  was — that 
she  might,  in  the  hand  of  Providence,  be  the  sacred  source 
of  a  blessing  and  a  glory  that  throws  all  imagination  into 
the  shade;  that  of  her  might  be  born  a  Being,  to  whom 
earth  and  all  its  kings  should  bow !  the  more  than  man ! 
the  more  than  angel !  veiling  for  a  little  time  his  splen- 
dors in  the  form  of  man,  to  raise  Israel  to  the  sceptre  of 
the  world,  to  raise  that  world  into  a  renewed  paradise, 
and  then  to  resume  his  original  glory,  and  be  Sovereign, 
Creator,  God — all  in  all ! 

This  consciousness,  however  dimmed,  was  never  for- 
gotten ;  the  misfortunes  of  Judah  never  breaking  the  strong 
link  by  which  we  held  to  the  future.  The  reliance  on  pre- 
dictions perpetually  renewed,  and  never  more  vividly  re- 
newed than  in  the  midst  of  our  misfortunes;  a  reliance 
commemorated  in  all  the  great  ceremonies  of  our  nation, 
in  our  worship,  in  our  festivals,  in  every  baptism,  in  every 
marriage  must  have  filled  a  large  space  in  the  susceptible 
mind  of  woman.  And  what  but  the  mind  forms  the  coun- 
tenance? and  what  must  have  been  the  moulding  of  that 
most  magnificent  and  elevating  of  all  hopes,  for  centuries, 
on  the  most  plastic  and  expressive  feature  in  the  world ! 

Sacredly  reserved  from  intermixture  with  the  blood  of 
the  stranger,  the  hope  was  spread  throughout  Israel.  The 
line  of  David  was  pure,  but  its  connection  had  shot  wide- 
ly through  the  land.  It  was  like  the  Indian  tree  taking 
root  through  a  thousand  trees.  Every  Jewish  woman 
might  hope  to  be  the  living  altar,  on  which  the  Light  to 
lighten  the  Gentiles  was  to  descend !  The  humblest  might 
be  the  blessed  among  women !  the*mother  of  the  Messiah ! 


54  SALATHIEL. 

But  all  is  gone!  Ages  of  wandering,  woe,  poverty,  con- 
tumely, and  mixture  of  blood,  have  done  their  work  of 
evil.  The  loveliness  may  partially  remain,  but  the  glory 
pf  Judahrs  daughters  is  no  more. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

WE  continued  ascending  through  the  defiles  of  the  moun- 
tain range  of  Carmel.  The  gorges  of  the  hills  gave  us 
alternate  glimpses  of  Lower  Galilee,  and  of  the  great  sea 
which  lay  bounding  the  western  horizon  with  azure.  The 
morning  breezes  from  the  land,  now  in  the  full  vegetation 
of  the  rapid  spring  of  Palestine,  scarcely  ceased  to  fill  the 
heavens  with  fragrance,  when  the  sea-wind  sprang  up, 
and,  with  the  coolness  and  purity  of  a  gush  of  fountain- 
waters,  renewed  the  spirit  of  life  in  the  air,  and  made  the 
whole  caravan  forget  its  fatigue.  Our  bold  hunters 
spurred  down  the  valleys  and  up  the  hills,  with  the  wild- 
ness  of  superfluous  vigor;  tossed  their  lances  into  the  air; 
sang  their  mountain  songs,  and  shouted  the  cries  of  the 
chase  and  the  battle. 

On  one  eventful  day  a  wolf»was  started  from  its  covert 
and  every  rein  was  let  loose  in  a  moment;  nothing  could 
stop  the  fearlessness  or  the  riders,  or  exhaust  the  fire  of  the 
steeds.  The  caravan,  coming  on  slowly  with  the  women 
and  children,  and  lengthening  out  among  the  passes,  was 
forgotten.  I  scorned  to  be  left  behind,  and  followed  my 
•daring  companions  at  full  speed.  The  wolf  led  us  a  long 
chase ;  and  on  the  summit  of  a  rock,  still  blazing  in  the  sun- 
light, like  a  beacon,  while  the  plain  was  growing  dim,  he 
fought  his  last  fight,  and,  transfixed  with  a  hundred 
lances,  died  the  death  of  a  hero.  But  the  spot  which  we 
had  reached  supplied  statelier  contemplations :  we  were  on 
the  summit  of  Mount  Tabor:  the  eye  wandered  over  the 
whole  glory  of  the  Land  of  Promise.^  To  the  south  ex- 
tended the  mountains  of  Samaria,  their  peaked  sum- 
mits glowing  in  the  sun  with  the  colored  brilliancy  of  a 
chain  of  gems.  To  the  east  lay  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  a 
long  line  of  purple.  Northward,  like  a  thousand  rain- 
bows, ascended,  lit  by  the  western  flame,  the  mountains 
of  Gilboa,  those  memorable  hills  on  which  the  spear  of 
Saul  was  broken,  and  the  first  curse  of  our  obstinacy  was 


8ALATHIEL.  55 

branded  upon  us  in  the  blood  of  our  first  king.  Closing 
the  superb  circle,  ascended  step  by  step  the  Antilibanus, 
soaring  into  the  very  heavens. 

Of  all  the  sights  that  nature  offers  to  the  eye  and  mind  • 
of  man,  mountains  have  always  stirred  my  strongest  feel-> 
ings.     I  have  seen  the  ocean  when  it  was  turned  up  from 
the  bottom  by  tempest,  and  noon  was  like  night  with  the 
conflict  of  the  billows  and  the  storm  that  tore  and  scat- 
tered them  in  mist  and  foam  across  the  sky.     I  have  seen 
the  desert  rise  around  me,  and  calmly,  in  the  midst  of^ 
thousands  uttering  cries  of  horror,  and  paralyzed  by  fear, 
have  contemplated  the  sandy  pillars  coming  like  the  ad- 
vance of  some  gigantic  city  of  conflagration  flying  across 
the  wilderness,  every  column  glowing  with  intense  fire, 
and  every  blast  death;  the  sky  vaulted  with  gloom,  the 
earth  a  furnace.    But  with  me,  the  mountain — in  tempest 
or  in  calm,  whether  the  throne  of  the  thunder,  or  with  the 
evening  sun  painting  its  dells  and  declivities  in  colors 
dipped  in  heaven — has  been  the  source  of  the  most  ab- 
sorbing sensations: — there  stands  magnitude,  giving  the 
instant  impression  of  a  power  above  man — grandeur  that 
defines  decay — antiquity  that  tells  of  ages  unnumbered — 
beauty  that  the  touch  of  time  makes  only  more  beautiful — 
use  exhaustless  for  the  service  of  man— strength  imperish-' 
able  as  the  globe;  the  monument  of  eternity — the  truest) 
earthly  emblem  of  that  everliving,  unchangeable,  irresisti- 
ble Majesty,  by  whom  and  for  whom  all  things  were  made ! 

I  was  gazing  on  the  Antilibanus,  and  peopling  its  dis- 
tant slopes  with  figures  of  other  worlds  ascending  and  de- 
scending, as  in  the  patriarch's  dream,  when  I  was  roused 
by  the  trampling  steed  of  one  of  my  kinsmen  returning 
with  the  wolf's  head,  the  trophy  of  his  superior  prowess, 
at  his  saddle  bow.  "So,"  said  he,  "you  disdained  to  share 
the  last  battle  of  that  dog  of  the  Galilees?  But  we  shall 
show  you  something  better  worth  the  chase,  when  we 
reach  home.  The  first  snow  that  drives  the  lions  down 
from  Lebanon,  or  the  first  hot  wind  that  sends  the  panthers 
flying  before  it  from  Assyria,  will  have  all  our  villages  up 
in  arms;  every  man  who  can  draw  a  bow,  or  throw  a\ 
lance,  will  be  on  the  mountains ;  and  then  we  shall  give  you 
the  honors  of  a  hunter  in  exchange  for  your  philosophy." 
He  uttered  this  with  a  jovial  laugh,  and  a  hand  grasping 
mine  with  the  grip  of  a  giant.  "Yet/'  said  he,  and  a  shade 


56  BALATHIEL. 

passed  over  his  brow,  "I  wish  we  had  something  better  to 
do ;  you  must  not  look  down  upon  Jubal,  and  the  tribe  of 
your  brother  Eleazar,  as  mere  rovers  after  wolves  and 
panthers." 

I  willingly  declared  my  respect  for  the  intrepidity  and 
dexterity  which  the  mountain  life  insured.  "Yet,"  inter- 
rupted Jubal  sternly,  "what  can  be  done  while  those 
Romans  are  everywhere  round  us?"  He  stopped  short, 
reined  up  his  horse  with  a  sudden  force  that  made  the 
animal  spring  from  the  ground,  flung  his  lance  high  in 
air,  caught  it  in  the  fall,  and  having  thus  relieved  his 
indignation,  returned  to  discuss  with  me  the  chances  of 
Roman  war.  "Look  at  those,"  said  he,  pointing  to  the 
horsemen  who  were  now  bounding  across  the  declivities  to 
rejoin  the  caravan;  "their  horses  are  flame,  their  bodies 
are  iron,  and  their  souls  would  be  both,  if  they  had  a 
leader." — "Eleazar  is  brave,"  I  replied.  "Brave  as  his 
own  lance,"  was  the  answer ;  "no  warmer  heart,  wiser  head, 
or  firmer  arm,  moves  at  this  hour  within  the  borders  of 
the  land.  But  he  despairs." — "He  knows,"  said  I,  "the 
Roman  power  and  the  Jewish  weakness."  , 

"Both— both,  too  well!"  was  the  reply.  "But  lie  for- 
gets the  power  that  is  in  the  cause  of  a  people  fighting 
for  their  law  and  for  their  rights,  in  the  midst  of  glorious 
remembrances,  nay  in  the  hope  of  a  help  greater  than 
that  of  the  sword.  Look  at  the  tract  beyond  those  linden- 
trees." 

;>  He  pointed  to  a  broken  extent  of  ground,  darkly  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  rest  of  the  plain.  "On  that  ground, 
to  this  moment  wearing  the  look  of  a  grave,  was  drawn  up 
the  host  of  Sisera;  under  that  ground  is  their  grave.  By 
this  stone,"  and  he  struck  his  lance  on  a  rough  pillar  de- 
faced by  time,  "stood  Deborah  the  prophetess,  prophesying 
against  the  thousands  and  ten  of  thousands  of  the  heathen 
below.  On  this  hill  were  drawn  up  the  army  of  Barak,  as 
a  drop  in  the  ocean,  compared  with  the  infidel  multitudes. 
They  were  the  ancestors  of  the  men  whom  you  now  see 
trooping  before  you;  the  men  of  Naphtali,  with  their 
brothers  of  Zabulon.  On  this  spot  they  gathered  their 
might  like  the  storm  of  Heaven.  From  this  spot  they. 
poured  down  like  its  whirlwind?  and  lightnings  upon  the 
taunting  enemy.  God  was  their  leader.  They  rushed 
upon  the  nine  hundred  scythed  chariots,  upon  the  mailed 


SALATHIEL.  57 

cavalry,  upon  the  countless  infantry.  Of  all,  but  one 
.escaped  from  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  and  that  one  only  to 
perish  In  his  flight  by  the  degradation  of  a  woman's 
'.hand!"  He  wheeled  round  his  foaming  horse,  and  ap- 
pealed to  me.  "Are  the  Eoman  legions  more  numerous 
than  that  host  of  the  dead?  Is  Israel  now  less  valiant, 
less  wronged,  or  less  indignant  ?  Shall  no  prophet  arise  , 
among  us  again?  Shall  it  not  be  sung  again,  as  it  was 
then  sung  to  the  harps  of  Israel — 'Zabulon  and  Naphtali 
were  a  people  that  jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the  death  in 
the  high  place  of  the  field  ?' « 

I  looked  with  involuntary  wonder  at  the  change  wrought 
in  him  by  those  proud  recollections.  The  rude  and  jovial 
hunter  was  no  more;  the  Jewish  warrior  stood  before  me, 
filled  with  the  double  impulse  of  generous  scorn  of  the 
oppression,  and  of  high  dependence  on  the  fate,  of  his 
nation.  His  countenance  was  ennobled,  his  form  seemed 
to  dilate,  his  voice  grew  sonorous  as  a  trumpet.  A  sudden 
burst  of  the  declining  sun  broke  upon  his  figure,  and  threw 
a  sheet  of  splendor  across  the  scarlet  turban,  the  glittering 
tunic,  the  spear-point  lifted  in  the  strenuous  hand,  the 
richly-caparisoned  front  and  sanguine  nostril  of  his  im- 
patient charger.  A  Gfentile  would  have  worshipped  him 
as  the  tutelar  genius  of  war.  I  saw  in  him  but  the  man 
that  our  history  and  our  law  were  ordained,  beyond  all 
others,  to  have  made; — the  native  strength  of  character 
raised  into  heroism  by  the  conviction  of  a  guiding  and 
protecting  Providence. 

The  conversation  was  not  forgotten  on  either  side;  and 
it  bore  fruit,  fearful  fruit,  in  time. 

We  had  reached  on  our  return  a  commanding  point, 
from  which  we  looked  into  the  depths  already  filling  with 
twilight,  and  through  whose  blue  vapors  the  caravan  toiled 
slowly  along,  like  a  wearied  fleet  in  some  billowy  sea.  Sud- 
denly a  tumult  was  perceived  below;  shouts  of  confusion 
and  terror  rose;  and  the  whole  caravan  was  seen  rushing 
in  all  directions  through  the  passes.  For  the  first  moment 
we  thought  that  it  had  been  attacked  by  the  mountain 
robbers.  We  grasped  our  lances,  and  galloped  down  the 
side  of  the  hill  to  charge  them;  when  we  were  stopped  at 
once  by  a  cry  from  the  ridge  which  we  had  just  left.  It 
struck  through  my  heart — the  voice  was  Miriam's.  To  my 
unspeakable  horror,  I  saw  her  dromedary,  mad  with  fear 


58  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

and  pouring  blood,  rush  along  the  edge  of  the  precipice.  I 
saw  the  figure  clinging  to  his  neck.  The  light  forsook 
my  eyes;  and  but  for  the  grasp  of  Jubal,  I  must  have 
fallen  to  the  ground. — His  voice  roused  me.  When  I 
looked  round  again,  the  shouts  had  died,  the  troop  had 
disappeared — it  seemed  all  a  dream ! 

But,  again,  the  shouts  came  doubling  upon  the  wind; 
and  far  as  the  eye  could  pierce  through  the  dusk,  I  saw 
the  .white  robe  of  Miriam  flying  along  like  a  vapor.  I 
threw  the  reins  on  my  horse's  neck — I  roused  him  with 
my  voice — I  rushed  with  the  fearlessness  of  despair 
through  the  hills — I  overtook  the  troop — I  outstripped 
them : — still  the  vision  flew  before  me.  At  length  it  sank. 
The  dromedary  had  plunged  down  the  precipice;  a  depth 
of  hideous  darkness. — A  torrent  roared  below.  I  struck 
in  the  spur,  to  follow. — My  horse  wheeled  round  on  the 
edge :  while  I  strove  to  force  him  to  the  leap,  my  kins- 
men came  up,  with  Eleazar  at  their  head. — Bold  as  they 
were,  they  all  recoiled  from  the  frightful  depth.  Even 
in  that  wild  moment,  I  had  time  to  feel  that  this  was  but 
the  beginning  of  my  inflictions,  and  that  I  was  to  be  the 
ruin  of  all  that  belonged  to  me.  In  consciousness  un- 
speakable, I  sprang  from  my  startled  steed;  and  before  a 
hand  could  check  me,  I  plunged  in.  A  cry  of  astonish- 
ment and  horror  rang  in  my  ears  as  I  fell.  The  roar  of 
waters  was  then  around  me.  I  struggled  with  the  tor- 
rent ;  gasped  and  heard  no  more. 

This  desperate  effort  saved  the  life  of  Miriam.  We  were 
found  apparently  dead,  clasped  in  each  other's  arms,  at 
some  distance  down  the  stream.  The  plunge  had  broken 
the  band  by  which  she  was  fixed  on  the  saddle.  She  floated, 
and  we  were  thrown  together  by  the  eddy.  After  long 
effort,  we  were  restored.  But  the  lamentations  of  my 
matchless  wife  were  restrained  beside  my  couch,  only  to 
burst  forth  when  she  was  alone.  We  had  lost  our  infant! 

The  chase  of  the  wolves  in  the  mountain  had  driven 
them  across  the  march  of  the  caravan.  One  of  these  sav- 
ages sprang  upon  the  flank  of  the  dromedary.  The  ani- 
mal, in  the  agony  of  its  wounds,  burst  away:  its  proverbial 
fleetness  baffled  pursuit;  and  it  was  almost  fortunate  that 
it  at  length  bounded  over  the  precipice;  as,  in  the  moun- 
tain country,  its  precious  burthen  must  have  perished  by 
the  lion  or  by  famine.  Miriam  held  her  babe  with  the 


8ALATUIEL.  59 

strong  grasp  of  a  mother;  but  in  the  torrent. that  grasp 
was  dissolved.  All  our  search  was  in  vain.  My  wife  wept : 
but  I  had  in  her  rescued  my  chief  treasure  on  earth;  ana 
was  partially  consoled  by  the  same  deep  feeling  which 
pronounced,  that  I  might  have  been  punished  by  the  loss 
of  all. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

LET  me  hasten  through  some  years.  The  sunshine  of 
life  was  gone ;  in  all  my  desire  to  conform  to  the  habits  of 
iny  new  career,  I  found  myself  incapable  of  contentment. 
But  the  times,  that  had  long  resembled  the  stagnation  of 
a  lake,  were  beginning  to  be  shaken.  Rome  herself,  the 
prey  of  conspiracy,  gradually  held  her  foreign  sceptre 
with  a  feebler  hand.  Gaul  and  Germany  were  covered, 
with  gathering  clouds;  and  their  flashes  were  answered 
from  the  Asiatic  hills.  With  the  relaxation  of  the  para- 
mount authority,  the  chain  of  subordinate  oppression,  as 
always  happens,  was  made  tighter.  As  the  master  was 
enfeebled,  the  menials  were  less  in  awe ;  and  Judea  rapidly 
felt  what  must  be  the  evils  of  a  military  government  with- 
out the  strictness  of  military  discipline. 

I  protested  against  being  charged  with  ambition.  But 
I  had  a  painful  sense  of  the  guilt  of  suffering  even  such 
powers  as  I  might  possess  to  waste  away,  without  use  to 
some  part  of  mankind.  I  was  weary  of  the  utter  unpro- 
ductiveness of  the  animal  enjoyments,  in  which  I  saw  the 
multitude  round  me  content  to  linger  into  old  age.-  I 
longed  for  an  opportunity  of  contributing  my  mite  to  the 
solid  possessions  by  which  posterity  is  wiser,  happier,  or 
purer,  than  the  generation  before  them: — some  trivial 
tribute  to  that  mighty  stream  of  time  which  ought  to  go 
on,  continually  bringing  richer  fertility  as  it  flowed.  I 
was  not  grieved  at  the  change,  which  I  saw  overshadow- 
ing the  gorgeous  empire  of  Rome.  My  unspeakable  crime 
may  have  thrown  a  deeper  tinge  on  those  contemplations. 
But  by  a  singular  fatality,  and  perhaps  for  the  increase 
of  my  punishment,  I  was  left  for  long  periods  in  each  year 
to  the  common  impressions  of  life.  The  wisdom,  which 
even  my  great  misfortune  might  have  forced  upon  me, 
was  withheld;  and  the  being  who,  in  the  conviction  of 


60  SALATHIEL. 

his  mysterious  destiny,  must  have  looked  upon  earth  and 
its  pursuits  as  man  looks  upon  the  life  of  flies — as  atoms 
in  the  sunshine — as  measureless  emptiness  and  trifling — 
was  given  over  to  be  disturbed  by  the  impulses  of  genera- 
tions on  whose  dust  he  was  to  sit,  and  to  see  other  genera- 
tions rise  round  him,  themselves  to  sink  alike  into  dust, 
while  he  still  sat  an  image  of  endurance,  torturing,  but 
imperishable. 

There  was  a  season  in  each  year  when  those  recollections 
returned  with  overwhelming  vividness.  If  all  other  knowl- 
edge of  the  approach  of  the  Passover  could  have  escaped 
me,  there  were  signs,  fearful  signs,  that  warned  me  of  that 
hour  of  my  woe.  A  periodic  dread  of  the  sight  of  man,  a 
sudden  sense  of  my  utter  separation  from  the  interests  of 
the  transitory  beings  round  me,  wild  dreams,  days  of  im- 
movable abstraction,  yet  filled  with  the  breathing  picture 
of  all  that  I  had  done  on  the  day  of  my  guilt  in  Jerusalem, 
rose  before  me  with  such  intense  reality,  that  I  lived  again 
through  the  scene.  The  successive  progress  of  my  crime — 
the  swift  and  stinging  consciousness  of  condemnation — 
the  flash  of  fearful  knowledge,  that  showed  me  futurity ; — 
all  were  felt  with  the  keenness  of  a  being  from  whom  all 
his  fleshly  nature  has  been  stripped  away,  and  the  soul 
bared  to  every  visitation  of  pain.  I  stood  like  a  disem- 
bodied spirit,  in  suffering. 

Yet,  I  could  not  be  restrained  from  following  my  tribe 
on  their  annual  progress  to  the  Holy  City.  To  see  from 
afar  the  towers  of  the  Temple,  was  with  me  like  a  craving 
for  life: — but  I  never  dared  to  set  my  foot  within  its 
gates.  On  some  pretence  or  other,  and  sometimes  through 
real  powerlessness,  arising  from  the  conflict  of  my  heart, 
I  lingered  behind,  yet  within  the  distance  from  which 
the  city  could  be  seen.  There,  among  the  precipices,  I 
wandered  through  the  day,  listening  to  the  various  uproar 
of  the  mighty  multitude,  or  wistfully  catching  some  echo 
of  the  hymns  in  the  Temple — sounds  that  stole  from  my 
eye  many  a  tear — till  darkness  fell,  the  city  slumbered, 
and  the  blast  of  the  Roman  trumpets,  as  they  divided  the 
night,  reminded  me  of  the  fallen  glories  of  my  country. 

In  one  of  those  wanderings,  I  had  followed  the  courses 
of  the  Kedron,  which,  from  a  brook  under  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem,  swells  to  a  river  on  its  descent  to  the  Dead 
Sea.  The  blood  of  the  sacrifices  from  the  conduits  of  the 


SALAT8IEL.  61 

altars  curdled  on  its  surface,  and  stained  the  sands  purple. 
It  looked  like  a  wounded  vein  from  the  mighty  heart  above. 
I  still  strayed  on,  wrapped  in  sad  forebodings  of  the  hour 
when  its  stains  might  be  of  more  than  sacrifice;  until  I 
found  myself  on  the  edge  of  the  lake.  Who  has  ever  seen 
that  black  expanse  without  a  shudder?  There  were  the 
engulfed  cities.  Around  it  life  was  extinct — no  animal 
bounded — no  bird  hovered.  The  distant  rushing  of  the 
Jordan,  as  it  forced  its  current  through  the  heavy  waters, 
or  the  sigh  of  the  wind  through  the  reeds,  alone  broke  the 
silence  of  this  mighty  grave.  Of  the  melancholy  objects 
of  nature,  none  is  more  depressing  than  a  large  expanse  of 
stagnant  waters.  No  gloom  of  forest,  or  wildness  of 
mountain,  is  so  overpowering  as  this  dreary,  unrelieved 
flatness: — the  marshy  border — the  sickly  vegetation  of 
the  shore — the  leaden  color  which  even  the  sky  above  it 
wears,  tinged  by  its  sepulchral  atmosphere.  But  the 
waters  before  me  were  not  left  to  the  dreams  of  a  saddened 
fancy: — they  were  a  sepulchre.  Myriads  of  human  be- 
ings lay  beneath  them,  entombed  in  sulphurous  beds.  The 
wrath  of  Heaven  had  been  there !  The  day  of  destruction 
seemed  to  pass  again  before  my  eyes,  as  I  lay  gazing  on 
those  sullen  depths.  I  saw  them  once  more  a  plain 
covered  with  richness;  cities  glittering  in  the  morning 
sun;  multitudes  pouring  out  from  their  gates  to  sports 
and  festivals;  the  land  exulting  with  life  and  luxuriance. 
Then  a  cloud  gathered  above.  I  heard  the  thunder;  it 
was  answered  by  the  earthquake.  Fire  burst  from  the 
skies — it  was  answered  by  a  thousand  founts  of  fire  spout- 
ing from  the  plain.  The  distant  hills  blazed,  and  threw 
volcanic  showers  over  the  cities.  Round  them  was  a  tide 
of  burning  bitumen.  The  earthquake  heaved  again.  All 
sank  into  the  gulf.  I  heard  the  roar  of  the  distant  waters. 
They  rushed  into  the  bed  of  fire;  the  doom  was  done; 
the  Cities  of  the  Plain  were  gone  down  to  the  blackness  of 
darkness  forever! 

I  was  idly  watching  the  bursts  of  suffocating  vapor,  that 
shoot  up  at  intervals  from  the  rising  masses  of  bitumen, 
when  I  was  startled  by  a  wild  laugh  and  wilder  figure 
beside  me.  I  sprang  on  my  feet,  and  prepared  for  de- 
fence with  my  poniard;  the  figure  waved  his  hand,  in 
sign  to  sheathe  the  unnecessary  weapon;  and  said,  in  a 
tone  strange  and  melancholy,  "You  are  in  my  power;  but 


62  8ALATBIEL. 

I  do  not  come  to  injure  you.  I  have  been  contemplating 
your  countenance  for  some  time — I  have  seen  your  dis- 
turbed features — your  wringing  hands — your  convulsed 
form : — are  you  even  as  I  am  ?" 

The  voice  was  singularly  mild,  yet  I  never  heard  a 
sound  that  so  keenly  pierced  my  brain.  The  speaker  was 
pf  the  tallest  stature  of  man — every  sinew  and  muscle 
exhibiting  gigantic  strength;  yet  with  the  symmetry  of  a 
Greek  statue.  But  his  countenance  was  the  true  wonder — 
it  was  of  the  finest  mould  of  manly  beauty;  the  contour 
was  Greek,  though  the  hue  was  Syrian : — yet  the  dark  tinge 
of  country  gave  way  at  times  to  a  corpse-like  paleness.  I 
had  full  leisure  for  the  view;  for  he  stood  gazing  on  me 
without  a  word;  and  I  remained  fixed  on  my  defence.  At 
length  he  said,  "Put  up  that  poniard!  You  could  no 
more  hurt  me  than  you  could  resist  me — look  here !"  He 
wrenched  a  huge  mass  of  rock  from  the  ground,  and  whirled 
it  far  into  the  lake,  as  if  it  had  been  a  pebble.  I  gazed 
with  speechless  astonishment.  "Yes,"  pursued  the  figure, 
"they  throw  me  into  their  prisons;  they  lash  me;  they 
stretch  me  on  the  rack;  they  burn  my  flesh."  As  he 
spoke  he  flung  aside  his  robe,  and  showed  his  broad  breast 
covered  with  scars.  "Short-sighted  fools !  little  they  know 
him  who  suffers,  or  him  who  commands.  If  it  were  not 
my  will  to  endure,  I  could  crush  my  tormentors,  as  I 
crush  an  insect.  They  chain  me,  too,"  said  he  with  a 
laugh  of  scorn.  He  drew  out  the  arm  which  had  been 
hitherto  wrapped  in  his  robe.  It  was  loaded  with  heavy 
links  of  iron.  He  grasped  one  of  them  in  his  hand, 
twisted  it  off  with  scarcely  an  effort,  and  flung  it  up  a 
sightless  distance  in  the  air.  "Such  are  bars  and  bolts  to 
me !  When  my  time  is  come  to  suffer,  I  submit  to  be  tor- 
tured !  When  that  time  is  past,  I  tear  away  their  fetters, 
burst  their  dungeons,  and  walk  forth  trampling  their 
armed  men.'* 

I  sheathed  the  dagger.  "Does  this  strength  amaze 
you?"  said  the  being:  "look  to  yonder  dust;"  and  he 
pointed  to  a  cloud  of  sand  that  came  flying  along  the 
shore.  "I  could  outstrip  that  whirlwind;  I  could  plunge 
unhurt  into  the  depths  of  that  sea;  I  could  ascend  that 
mountain,  swifter  than  the  eagle;  I  could  ride  that 
thunder-cloud." 

As  he  threw  himself  back,  gazing  upon  the  sky,  with 


SALATBIEL.  63 

his  grand  form  buoyant  with  vigor,  and  his  arm  exalted, 
he  looked  like  one  to  whom  height  or  depth  could  offer  no 
obstacle.  His  mantle  flew  out  along  the  blast,  like  the 
unfurling  of  a  mighty  wing.  There  was  something  in  his 
look  and  voice  that  gave  irresistible  conviction  to  his  wild 
words.  Conscious  mastery  was  in  all  about  him.  I 
should  not  have  felt  surprise,  to  see  him  spring  up  into 
the  clouds ! 

My  mind  grew  inflamed  with  his  presence.  My  blood 
burned  with  sensations,  for  which  language  has  no  name; 
a  thirst  of  power,  a  scorn  of  earth,  a  proud  and  fiery  long- 
ing for  the  command  of  the  mysteries  of  nature.  I  felt 
as  the  great  ancestor  of  mankind  might  have  felt, 
when  the  tempter  told  him,  "Ye  shall  be  even  as  gods." 

"Give  me  your  power,"  I  exclaimed;  "the  world  to  me 
is  worthless :  with  man  all  my  ties  are  broken :  let  me  live 
in  the  desert,  and  be  even  as  you  are :  give  me  your  power." 
"My  power !"  he  repeated,  with  a  ghastly  laugh,  that 
v/as  echoed  round  the  wilderness  by  what  seemed  voices 
innumerable,  until  it  died  away  in  a  distant  groan.  "Look 
on  this  forehead !"  He  threw  back  the  corner  of  his 
mantle.  A  furrow  was  drawn  round  his  brow,  covered 
with  gore,  and  gaping  like  a  fresh  wound.  1  "Here,"  howled 
he,  "sat  the  diadem.  I  was  Epiphanes." 

"You,  Antiochus !  the  tyrant ;  the  persecutor ;  the  spoil- 
er ;  the  accursed  of  Israel !"  I  bounded  backwards  in  sud- 
den horror.  I  saw  before  me  one  of  those  spirits  of  the 
evil  dead,  who  are  allowed  from  time  to  time  to  reappear 
on  earth  in  the  body,  whether  of  the  dead  or  the  living. 
For  some  cause  that  none  could  unfold,  Judea  had  been, 
within  the  last  few  years,  haunted  by  those  beings  more 
than  for  centuries.  Strange  rites,  dangerously  borrowed 
from  the  idolater,  were  resorted  to  for  our  relief  from 
this  new  terror:  the  pulling  of  the  mandrake  at  the  eclipse 
of  the  moon,  incantations,  midnight  offerings,  the  root 
Baaras,  that  was  said  to  flash  flame,  and  kill  the  animal 
that  drew  it  from  the  ground.  Our  Sadducees  and  scep- 
tics, wise  in  their  own  conceit,  declared  that  possession 
was  but  a  human  disease,  a  wilder  insanity.  But,  with  the 
range  and  misery  of  madness,  there  were  tremendous  dis- 
tinctions, which  raised  it  beyond  all  the  ravages  of  the 
hu^t  mind,  or  the  afflicted  frame : — the  look,  the  language, 


64  BALATH1EL. 

the  horror,  of  the  possessed,  were  above  man.  They  de- 
fied human  restraint;  they  lived  in  wildernesses  where  the 
very,  serpents  died;  the  fiery  'sun  of  the  East,  the  in- 
clemency of  the  fiercest  winter,  had  no  power  to  break 
down  their  strength.  But  they  had  stronger  signs;  they 
.spoke  of  things  to  which  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest  was 
folly;  they  told  of  the  remotest  future,  with  the  force  of 
prophecy ;  they  gave  glimpses  of  a  knowledge  brought  from 
realms  of  being  inaccessible  to  living  man — last  and  lofti- 
est sign,  they  did  homage  to  HIS  coming,  whom  a  cloud 
of  darkness,  the  guilty  and  impenetrable  darkness  of  the 
heart,  had  veiled  from  my  unhappy  nation.  But  their 
homage  was  agony;  they  believed  and  trembled.-1  > 

"Power,"  said  the  possessed,  and  his  large  and  unmov- 
ing  eyes  seemed  lighting  up  with  fire  from  within — "Pow- 
er you  shall  have,  and  hate  it ;  wealth  you  shall  have,  and 
hate  it;  life  you  shall  have,  and  hate  it;  you  shall  know 
the  heights  and  depths  of  man.  The  worm  among  a  na- 
tion of  worms,  steeped  in  ruin  to  the  lips,  you  shall  un- 
dergo the  bitterness  of  death,  until "  His  brow  writhed ; 

he  gnashed  his  teeth,  and  convulsively  sprang  from  the 
•    ground,  as  if  an  arrow  had  shot  through  him. 

The  current  of  his  thoughts  suddenly  changed.  Things 
above  man  were  not  to  be  uttered  to  the  ear  unopened  by 
the  grave.  "Come,"  said  he,  "son  of  misfortune,  em- 
blem of  the  nation,  that  living  shall  die,  and  dying  shall 
live;  that,  trampled  by  all,  shall, trample  upon  all;  that, 
bleeding  from  a  thousand  wounds,  shall  be  unhurt;  that, 
beggared,  shall  wield  the  wealth  of  nations;  that,  without 
a  name,  shall  sway  the  councils  of  kings;  that,  without  a 
city,  shall  inhabit  in  all  kingdoms ;  that,  scattered  like  the 
dust,  shall  be  bound  together  like  the  rock;  that,  perish- 
ing by  the  sword,  by  the  chain,  by  famine,  by  fire,  shall  yet 
be  imperishable,  unnumbered,  glorious  as  the  stars  of 
heaven." 

Overwhelmed  with  sensations,  rushing  in  a  flood  through 
my  heart,  I  had  cast  myself  upon  the  ground;  the  flash- 
ing of  the  fiery  eye  before  me  consumed  my  blood;  and, 
fainting,  I  lay  with  my  face  upon  the  sand.  But  his 
words  were  deeply  heard;  with  every  sound  of  his  search- 
ing voice  they  struck  into  my  soul.  He  grasped  me;  and 
I  was  lifted  up  like  an  infant  in  his  grasp.  "Come,"  said 
he,  "and  see  what  is  reserved  for  you  and  for  your  people. 

.  — > —      o  ~ 


SALAT3IEL.  65 

He  darted  forward  with  a  speed  that  took  away  my 
breath;  he  ran;  he  bounded;  he  flew.  "Now,  behold!" 
he  uttered  in  an  accent  as  composed  as  if  he  had  not 
moved  a  limb.  I  looked,  and  found  myself  on  one  of  the 
hills  close  to  the  great  southern  gate  of  Jerusalem.  Years 
had  passed  since  I  ventured  so  nigh.  But  I  now  gazed  on 
the  city  of  pomp  and  beauty,  with  an  involuntary  won- 
der, that  I  could  have  ever  deserted  a  scene  so  lovely  and 
so  loved. 

It  was  the  twilight  of  a  summer  evening.  Tower  and 
wall  lay  bathed  in  a  sea  of  purple;  the  Temple  rose  from 
its  centre  like  an  island  of  light ;  the  host  of  Heaven  came 
riding  up  the  blue  fields  above;  the  sounds  of  day  died  in 
harmony.  All  was  the  sweetness,  calmness,  and  splendor 
of  a  vision  painted  in  the  clouds. 

"There,"  said  the  possessed,  "I  was  once  master,  con- 
queror, avenger:  yet,  I  was  but  the  instrument  to  punish 
your  furious  dissensions;  your  guilty  abandonment  of  the 
law  of  your  leader;  your  more  than  Gentile  apostasy  from 
the  worship  of  Him,  who  is  to  be  worshipped  with  more 
than  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats.  A  power  hidden  from 
my  idolatrous  eyes  went  before  me,  and  broke  down  the 
courage  of  your  people.  I  marched  through  your  gates  on 
the  neck  of  the  godless  warrior;  I  plundered  the  wealth 
of  your  rich  men,  made  worldly  by  their  wealth;  I  slew 
your  priesthood,  already  the  betrayers  of  their  altar;  I 
overthrew  your  places  of  worship,  already  defiled;  I  cov- 
"ered  the  ruins  with  the  blood  of  swine;  I  raised  idols  in  the 
sanctuary;  I  bore  away  the  golden  vessels  of  the  Temple, 
and  gave  them  to  the  insult  of  the  Syrian;  I  slew  your 
males;  I  made  captives  of  your  women;  I  abolished  your 
sacrifices,  and  pronounced  in  my  hour  of  blasphemy,  that 
within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  the  flame  should  never  again 
be  kindled  to  the  Supreme.  The  deed  was  mine,  the  cause 
was  the  iniquity  of  your  people." 

The  history  of  devastation  roused  me  to  look  on  the 
devastator.  "Let  me  be  gone,"  I  exclaimed,  struggling 
from  his  grasp.  "Strange  and  terrible  being,  let  me  hear 
no  more  this  outrage  on  God  and  man.  I  am  guilty,  too 
guilty,  in  having  listened  to  you  for  a  moment/'  He  laid 
his  hand  upon  my  brow,  and  I  felt  my  strength  dissolve 
at  the  touch.  "Go,"  said  he,  "but  first  be  a  witness  of  the 


66  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

future.  A  fiercer  destroyer  than  Epiphanes  shall  come, 
to  punish  a  darker  crime  than  ever  stained  your  fore- 
fathers. A  destruction  shall  come,  to  which  the  past  was 
the  sport  of  children.  Tower  and  wall,  citadel  and  temple, 
shall  be  dust.  The  sword  shall  do  its  work ;  the  chain  shall 
do  its  work ;  the  flame  shall  do  its  work.  Bad  spirits  shall 
rejoice;  good  spirits  shall  weep:  Israel  shall  be  clothed 
in  sackcloth  and  ashes  for  a  time,  impenetrable  by  a 
created  eye.  The  world  shall  exult,  trample,  scorn,  and 
slay.  Blindness,  madness,  and  misery,  shall  be  the  por- 
tion of  the  people.  Now,  behold !" 

He  stood,  with  his  arm  stretched  out  towards  the  Temple. 
All  before  me  was  tranquillity  itself;  night  had  suddenly 
fallen  deeper  than  usual;  the  stars  had  been  wrapped  in 
clouds,  that  yet  gathered  without  a  wind;  a  faint  tinge  of 
light  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Moriah,  the  gleam  of  the 
never-extinguished  altar  of  the  Daily  Sacrifice,  alone 
marked  the  central  court  of  the  Temple.  I  turned  from 
the  almost  death-like  stillness  of  the  scene,  with  a  look  of 
involuntary  disbelief,  to  the  face  of  my  fearful  guide ;  even 
in  the  deep  darkness  every  feature  of  it  was  strangely 
visible. 

A  low  murmur  from  the  city  caught  my  ear:  it  rapidly 
grew  loud,  various,  wild:  it  was  soon  intermixed  with  the 
clash  of  arms.  Trumpets  now  rang:  I  recognized  the 
charging  shout  of  the  Eomans;  I  heard  the  tumultuous 
roar  of  my  countrymen  in  return.  The  darkness  was  con- 
verted into  light;  torches  blazed  along  the  battlements: 
the  Tower  of  Antonia,  the  Eoman  citadel,  with  its  massy 
bulwarks  and  immense  altitude,  rose  from  a  tossing  ex- 
panse of  flame  below  like  a  colossal  funeral  pile;  I  could 
see  on  its  summit  the  alarm,  the  rapid  signals,  the  hasty 
snatching  up  of  spear  and  shield,  the  confusion  of  the  gar- 
rison, which  that  night's  vengeance  was  to  offer  up  on  the 
pile.  The  roar  of  battle  rose,  it  deepened  into  cries  of 
agony,  it  swelled  again  into  furious  exultation. 

I  thought  of  my  countrymen  butchered  by  some  new 
caprice  of  power;  of  my  kinsmen,  perhaps  at  that  instant 
involved  in  the  massacre;  of  the  city,  every  stone  and 
beam  of  which  was  dear  to  my  embittered  heart,  given 
up  to  the  vengeance  of  the  idolater !  The  prediction  of  its 
ruin  was  in  my  ears;  and  I  longed  to  perish  with  my 

tribe.    I  panted  with  every  shout  of  the  battle;  every  new 

~r^— 


8ALATHIEL.  67 

sheet  of  flame  that  rolled  upwards  from  the  burning 
houses  fevered  me;  I  longed  to  rush  into  the  uproar,  with 
the  speed  of  the  whirlwind.  But,  the  terrible  hand  was 
still  upon  my  forehead,  and  I  was  feeble  as  a  broken  reed. 
"Behold,"  said  the  possessed,  "those  are  but  the  begin- 
nings of  evil."  I  felt  a  sudden  return  of  my  strength-  I 
looked  up,  he  was  gone ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

I  PLUNGED  into  the  valley;  and  found  it  filled  with 
fugitives,  incapable,  from  terror,  of  giving  me  any  ac- 
count of  the  conflict.  Women  and  children,  hastily  thrown 
on  the  mules  and  camels,  continued  to  pour  through  the 
country.  The  road  wound  through  hills,  and  though 
sometimes  approaching  near  enough  to  the  walls  to  be 
illuminated  by  the  blaze  of  the  torches  and  beacons,  yet, 
from  its  general  darkness  and  intricacy,  leaving  me  to 
make  my  way  by  the  sounds  of  the  struggle.  But  1  was 
quickly  within  reach  of  ample  evidence.  The  bend  of 
the  road,  from  which  the  first  view  of  the  grand  portico 
was  seen,  had  been  the  rallying  point  to  the  multitude 
driven  out  by  the  unexpected  resistance  of  the  garrison. 
The  tide  of  fight  had  thence  ebbed  and  flowed,  and  I 
found  the  spot  covered  with  the  dead  and  dying.  In  my 
haste,  I  fell  over  one  of  the  wounded;  he  groaned,  and 
prayed  me  for  a  cup  of  water.  I  knew  the  voice  of  Jairus, 
one  of  the  boldest  of  our  mountaineers,  and  bore  him  to" 
the  hillside,  that  he  might  not  be  trampled  by  the  crowd. 
He  faintly  thanked  me,  and  said,  "If  you  be  a  man  of 
Israel,  fly  to  Eleazar.  Take  this  spear : — another  moment 
may  be  too  late."  I  seized  the  spear,  and  sprang  for- 
ward.- 

The  multitude  had  repelled  the  Eomans,  and  forced 
them  up  the  broad  central  street  of  the  city.  But  a  re- 
inforcement from  the  Tower  of  Antonia  joined  the  troops, 
and  were  driving  back  the  victors  with  ruinous  disorder. 
I  heard  the  war-cries  of  the  tribes  as  they  called  to  the 
rescue  and  the  charge.  "Onward,  Judah !"  "Ho,  for 
Zabulon  !"  "Glory  to  Naphtali !"  I  thought  of  the  times 
of  Jewish  triumph,  and  saw  before  me  the  warriors  of  the 


68  SALATHIEL. 

Maccabees.  Nerved  with  new  sensations,  the  strong  in- 
stincts which  make  the  war  horse  paw  the  ground  at  the 
trumpet,  and  make  men  rush  headlong  upon  death,  I 
forced  my  path  through  the  multitude,  that  tossed  and 
whirled  like  the  eddies  of  the  ocean.  I  found  my  kins- 
men in  front,  battling  desperately  against  the  long  spears 
of  a  Roman  column,  that,  solid  as  iron,  and  favored  by 
the  higher  ground,  was  pressing  down  all  before  it.  The 
resistance  was  heroic,  but  unavailing;  and  when  I  burst 
forward,  I  found  at  my  side  nothing  but  faces  dark  with 
despair,  or  covered  with  wounds.  In  front  was  .a  wall  of 
shields  and  helmets,  glaring  in  the  light  of  the  conflagra- 
tion, that  was  now  rapidly  spreading  on  all  sides.  The 
air  was  scorching,  the  smoke  rolling  against  us  in  huge 
volumes;  burning,  and  loss  of  blood,  were  consuming  the 
multitude.  But,  what  is  in  the  strength  of  the  soldier, 
or  the  bravery  of  discipline,  to  daunt  the  desperate  energy 
of  men  fighting  for  their  country — and,  above  all  men, 
of  the  Israelite,  fighting  in  sight  of  the  profaned  Temple? 
The  native  frame,  exercised  by  the  habits  of  our  temperate 
and  agricultural  life,  was  one  of  surpassing  muscular 
strength;  and  man  for  man  thrown  naked  into  the  field/ 
we  could  have  torn  the  Roman  garrison  into  fragments 
for  the  fowls  of  the  air.  But  their  arms,  and  the  help 
which  they  received  from  the  nature  of  the  ground,  were 
too  strong  for  the  assault  of  men  fighting  with  no  shield 
but  their  cloaks,  and  no  arms  but  a  pilgrim's  staff,  or 
some  weapon  caught  up  from  a  dead  enemy. 

Yet,  on  me  there  came  a  wild  impression,  that  this 
night  was  to  make  or  unmake  me;  an  undefined  feeling, 
that  in  the  shedding  of  my  blood  in  sight  of  the  Temple, 
there  might  be  some  palliative,  some  washing  away,  of 
my  crime.  I  sprang  forward  between  the  combatants ;  the 
battle  paused  for  an  instant,  and  my  name  was  shouted  in 
exultation  by  ten  thousand  voices.  A  shower  of  lances 
from  the  battlements  was  instantly  poured  upon  me.'  I 
.  felt  myself  wounded,  but  the  feeling  only  roused  me  to 
bolder  daring.  .Tearing  off  my  gory  mantle,  I, lifted  it  on 
the  point  of  my  javelin,  and  with  the  poniard  in  my  right 
hand,  aloud  devoted  the  Romans  .to  ruin  in  the  name  of  the 
Temple.  ' 

The  enemy,  in  their  native  superstition,  shrank  from  a 


BALATHIEL.  69 

being  who  looked  the  messenger  of  angry  Heaven.  The 
naked  figure,  the  blood  streaming  from  my  wound,  the 
wild  and  mystic  sound  of  my  words,  might  have  reminded 
them  of  the  diviners,  who  had  often  shaken  their  souls  in 
their  own  land.  I  burst  into  the  circle  of  their  spears, 
waving  my  standard,  and  calling  on  my  nation  to  follow/  I 
smote  to  the  right  and  left.  The  entrance  that  I  had  made 
in  the  iron  bulwark  was  instantly  filled  by  the  multitude. 
All  discipline  now  gave  way.  The  weight  of  the  Eoman 
armor  was  ruinous  to  men  grappled  hand  to  hand  by  the 
light  and  sinewy  agility  of  the  Jew.  We  rushed  on, 
trampling  down  cuirass .  and  buckler,  till  we  drove  the 
enemy,  like  sheep,  before  us  to  the  first  gate  of  the  Towei* 
of  Antonia.  Arrows,  lances,  stones,  in  showers  from  the 
battlements,  then  could  not  stop  the  valor  of  the  people. 
>We  rushed  on  to  assault  the  gate...^  Sabinus,  the  tribune 
of  the  legion,  rallied  the  remnant  of  the  fugitives,  and, 
under  cover  of  the  battlements,  made  a  last  attempt  to 
change  the  fortunes  of  the  night.-  Exhausted  as  I  was, 
bruised  and  bleeding,  my  feet  and  hands  lacerated  with 
the  burning  ruins,  my  tongue  cleaving  to  my  mouth  with 
deadly  thirst,  I  rushed  upon  him.  He  had  been  cruelly 
known  to  the  Jews,  a  tyrant  and  plunderer,  for  the  many 
years  of  his  command.  No  trophy  of  the  battle  could 
have  been  so  cheering  to  them  as  his  head.  But  he  had, 
the  bravery  of  his  country ;  and  it  was  now  augmented  by 
rage.  -  The  despair  of  being  able  to  clear  himself  before 
, imperial  jealousy,  for  that  night's  disasters,  must  have 
made  life  worthless  to  him.  He  bounded  on  the  draw- 
bridge at  my  cry.  Our  meeting  was  brief;  my  poniard 
broke  on  his  cuirass;  his  falchion  descended  with  a  blow 
that  would  have  cloven  a  headpiece  of  steel.  I  sprang 
aside,  and  caught  it  on  the  shaft  of  my  javelin  standard, 
which  it  cut  clear  in  two.  I  returned  the  blow  with  the 
fragment.  .  The  iron  pierced  his  throat ;  he  flung  up  his 
hands,  staggered  back,  and  dropped  dead.  The  roar  of 
Israel  rent  the  heavens ! 

Scarcely  more  alive  than  the  trunk  at  my  feet,  I  fell 
back  among  the  throng.  But,  whatever  may  be  the  envy  of 
courts,  no  injustice  is  done  in  the  field.  The  successful 
leader  is  sure  of  his  reward,  from  the  gallant  spirits  that  he 
has  conducted  to  victory.  I  was  hailed  with  shouts — -I  was 


70  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

lifted  on  the  shoulders  of  the  multitude;  the  men  of  Naph- 
tali  proudly  claimed  me  for  their  own;  and  when  I  clasped 
the  hand  of  my  brave  friend  Jubal,  whom  I  found  in  th" 
.  foremost  rank,  covered  with  dust  and  blood,  he  exclaimed 
"Remember  Barak;  remember  Mount  Tabor." 

But,  I  looked  round  in  vain  for  one  with  whom  I  had 
parted  but  a  few  days  before,  and  without  whom  I  scarcety 
dared  to  meet  Miriam.     Her  noble  brother  was  not  to  be 
seen;  had  he  fallen?     Jubal  understood  my  countenance, 
and  mournfully  pointed  to  the  citadel,  which  rose  abo~re  us, 
frowning  down  on  our  impotent  rage.     "Eleazar  is  a  pris- 
oner?" I  interrogated.     "There  can  be  no  hope  for  him 
from   the  hypocritical   clemency   of  those   barbarians   of 
Italy,"  was  the  answer ;  "it  was  with  him  that  the  insurrec- 
tion began.     Some  new  Eoman  insolence  had  commanded 
that  our  people  should  offer  a  sacrifice  to  the  image  of  the 
emperor — to  the  polluted,  blood-thirsty  tyrant  of  Rome  and 
mankind.     Eleazar  shrank  from  this  act  of  horror.     The 
tribune,  that  dog  of  Rome,  whose  tongue  you  have  silenced 
— so  may  perish  all  the  enemies  of  the  Holy  City ! — com- 
manded that  our  chieftain  should  be  scourged  at  the  altar. 
The  cords  were  round  his  arms ;  the  spearmen  were  at  his 
back ;  they  marched  him  through  the  streets,  calling  on  all 
the  Jews  to  look  upon  the  punishment,  that  was  equally 
reserved  for  all.     Our  indignation  burst  forth  in  groans 
and  prayers.     I  hastily  gathered  our  tribe: — we  snatched 
up  what  arms  we  could,  and  were  rushing  to  his  rescue, 
when  we  saw  him  sweeping  the  guard  before  him.     He  had 
broken  his  bands  by  a  desperate  effort.     We  fell  upon  the 
pursuers.     Blood  was  now  drawn,  and  we  knew  the  venge- 
ance  of  the  Romans.     To  break  up,  and  scatter  through 
the  country,  would  have  been  only  to  give  our  throats  to 
their  cavalry.     Eleazar  determined  to  anticipate  the  at- 
tack.    Messengers  were  sent  round  to  the  leaders  of  the 
tribes,  and  the  seizure  of  the  Roman  fortress  was  resolved 
on.     But  the  garrison  were  now  roused.     We  were  beaten 
down  by  a  storm  of  darts  and  javelins,  and  must  have 
been  undone,  but  for  your  appearing.     In  the  first  onset, 
Eleazar,  while  cheering  us  to  the  charge,  was  struck  by 
a  stone  from  an  engine.     I  saw  him  fall  among  a  circle  of 
the   enemy;   and    hastened    to   his    reseup.     But    when    I 
reached  the  spot,  he  was  gone,  and  my  last  sight  of  him 


BALATHIEL.  71 

was  at  yonder  gate,  as  he  was  borne  in,  waving  his  hand — 
his  last  farewell  to  Naphtali." 

Deep  silence  followed  his  broken  accents;  he  hung  his 
head  on  his  hand,  and  the  tears  glistened  through  his 
fingers.  The  circle  of  brave  men  round  us  wrapped  their 
heads  in  their  mantles.  I  could  not  contain  the  bitterness 
of  my  soul.  Years  had  cemented  my  friendship  for  the 
virtuous  and  generous-hearted  brother  of  my  beloved.  He 
had  borne  with  my  waywardness: — he  had  done  all  that 
man  could  do,  to  soften  my  heart,  to  enlighten  my  darkness, 
to  awake  me  to  a  wisdom  surpassing  rubies.  I  lifted  up 
my  voice  and  wept.  The  brazen  blast  of  a  trumpet  from 
the  battlements  suddenly  raised  all  our  eyes.  Troops 
moved  slowly  along  the  walls  of  the  fortress ;  they  ascended 
the  central  tower.  Their  ranks  opened,  and  in  the  midst 
was  seen  by  the  torch-light  a  man  of  Israel.  They  had 
brought  him  to  that  place  of  exposure,  in  the  double  cruelty 
of  increasing  his  torture,  and  ours,  by  death  in  the  presence 
of  the  people.  A  universal  groan  burst  from  below.  He 
felt  it,  and  meekly  pointed  with  his  hand  to  that  Heaven, 
where  no  tortures  shall  disturb  the  peace  of  the  departed. 
The  startling  sound  of  the  trumpet  stung  the  ear  again ; — 
it  was  the  signal  for  execution.  I  saw  the  archer  advance, 
to  take  aim  at  him.  He  drew  the  shaft.  Almost  un- 
consciously, I  seized  a  sling  from  the  hands  of  one  of  our 
tribe.  I  whirled  it. — The  archer  dropped  dead,  with  the 
arrow  still  on  his  bow. 

To  those  who  had  not  seen  the  cause,  the  effect  was 
almost  a  miracle.  The  air  pealed  with  acclamation;  a 
thousand  slings  instantly  swept  the  escort  from  the  battle- 
ments; the  walls  were  left  naked; — ladders  were  raised — 
ropes  were  slung — axes  were  brandished;  the  activity  of 
our  hunters  and  mountaineers  availed  itself  of  every  crev- 
ice and  projection  of  the  walls;  they  climbed  on  each 
other's  shoulders;  they  leaped  from  point  to  point,  where 
the  antelope  could  have  scarcely  found  footing;  they  ran 
over  narrow  and  fenced  walls  and  curtains,  where,  in  open 
daylight,  and  with  his  senses  awake  to  the  danger,  no  man 
could  have  moved.  Torches  without  number  now  showered 
upon  all  that  was  combustible.  At  length,  the  central 
tower  took  fire.  We  fought  no  longer  in  darkness;  the 
flames  rolled  sheet  on  sheet  above  our  heads,  throwing 


72  SAL  AT  HI  EL. 

light  over  the  whole  horizon.  We  were  soon  in  no  want 
of  help;  the  tribes  poured  in  at  the  sight  of  the  confla- 
gration ;  and  no  valor  could  resist  their  enthusiasm.  Some 
cried  out,  that  they  saw  beings  mightier  than  man  descend- 
ing to  fight  the  battle  of  the  favored  nation : — some,  that 
the  day  of  Joshua  had  returned,  and  that  a  light  of  more 
than  earthly  lustre  was  visible  in  the  burning!  But  the 
battle  was  no  longer  doubtful.  The  Romans,  reduced  in 
number  by  the  struggle  in  the  streets,  exhausted  by  the 
last  attack,  and  aware,  from  the  destruction  of  their 
magazines,  that  their  most  successful  resistance  must  be 
ended  by  famine,  called  out  for  terms.  I  had  but  one 
answer — "The  life  of  Eleazar."  The  drawbridge  fell, 
and  he  appeared ; — the  next  moment  he  was  in  my  arms ! 
The  garrison  marched  out.  I  restrained  the  violence  of 
their  conquerors,  irritated  by  the  memory  of  years  of  in- 
sult. Not  a  hair  of  a  Roman  head  was  touched.  They 
were  led  down  to  the  valley  of  Kedron;  were  disarmed, 
and  thence  sent  without  delay  under  a  safeguard,  to  their 
countrymen  in  Idumea.  In  one  night  the  Holy  City 
was  cleared  of  every  foot  of  the  idolater. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BUT,  while  the  people  were  in  a  state  of  the  wildest 
triumph,  the  joy  of  their  leaders  was  tempered  by  formid- 
able reflections.  The  power  of  the  enemy  was  still  un- 
shaken :  the  surprise  of  a  single  garrison,  though  a  dis- 
tinguished evidence  of  what  might  be  done  by  native  valor, 
was  trivial,  on  the  scale  of  a  war,  that  must  be  conducted 
against  the  mistress  of  the  civilized  world.  The  policy 
of  Rome  was  known:  she  never  gave  up  a  conquest,  while 
it  could  be  retained  by  the  most  lavish  and  persevering 
expenditure  of  her  strength.  Her  treasury  would  be 
stripped  of  every  talent,  and  Italy  left  without  a  soldier, 
before  she  would  surrender  the  most  fruitless  spot,  an  acre 
of  sand,  or  a  point  of  rock,  in  Judea. 

I  went  forth,  but  not  among  the  leaders,  nor  among  the 
people ;  I  turned  away  equally  from  the  council,  and  the 
triumph.  A  deeper  feeling  urged  me  to  wander  round 
those  courts  where  my  spirit  had  so  often  turned  in  my 


SAL  ATE  I  EL.  73 

exile.  The  pollution  of  blood  was  on  the  consecrated 
ground.  The  Eoman  soldiers,  in  their  advance,  had  driven 
the  people  to  take  refuge  in  the  cloisters  of  the  Temple; 
and  the  dead  lying  thickly  among  the  columns,  showed 
how  fierce  even  that  brief  and  partial  struggle  had  been. 
With  a  torch  in  my  hand,  I  trod  through  those  heaps  of 
what  once  was  man,  to  have  one  parting  look  at  the  scene 
where  I  had  passed  so  many  blameless  hours.  I  stood 
before  the  porch  of  my  own  cloister,  almost  listening  for 
the  sound  of  the  familiar  voices  within.  The  long  in- 
terval of  time  was  compressed  into  an  instant. 

I  awoke  from  this  reverie,  with  something  like  scorn,  at 
the  idleness  of  human  fancy,  and  struck  open  the  door. 
There  was  no  answer ;  but  the  bolts,  loosened  by  time,  gave 
way,  and  I  was  again  the  master  of  my  mansion.  It  was 
uninhabited,  since  my  flight;  why,  I  could  not  conceive. 
But  as  I  passed  from  room  to  room,  I  found  them  all  as 
if  they  had  been  left  but  the  hour  before.  The  embroidery, 
which  Miriam  wrought  with  a  skill  distinguished  even 
among  the  daughters  of  the  Temple,  was  still  fixed  in 
its  frame  before  the  silken  couch;  where  stood  the  harp 
that  relieved  her  hours  of  graceful  toil.  The  tissued 
sandals  were  still  waiting  for  the  delicate  feet.  The  veil, 
the  vermilion  mantle  that  designated  her  rank,  the  tabret, 
the  armlets  and  necklaces  of  precious  stones,  still  hung 
upon  the  tripods,  untouched  of  the  spoiler.  There  was 
but  one  evidence  of  time  among  them — but  that  bore  its 
bitter  moral.  It  was  the  dust,  that  hung  heavy  upon  the 
curtains  of  precious  needlework,  and  chilled  the  richness 
of  the  Tyrian  purple; — decay,  that  teacher  without  a 
tongue,  the  lonely  emblem  of  what  the  bustle  of  man- 
kind must  come  to  at  last;  the  dull  memorial  of  the  proud, 
the  beautiful,  the  brave !  All  was  the  silence  of  the  tomb ! 
With  the  torch  in  my  hand,  throwing  its  red  reflection 
on  the  walls  and  remembrances  round  me,  I  sat,  like  the 
mummy  of  an  Egyptian  king  in  the  sepulchre — in  the 
midst  of  many  things  that  I  had  loved,  yet  divorced  from 
them  by  an  irresistible  law,  forever ! 

I  impatiently  broke  forth  into  the  open  air.  The  stars 
were  waning;  a  gray  streak  of  dawn  was  whitening  the 
summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  As  I  passed  by  Herod's 
palace,  and  lifted  my  eyes  in  wonder  at  the  unusual  sight 


74  BALATHIEL. 

of  a  group  of  Jews  keeping  watch,  where,  but  the  day  be- 
fore, the  Roman  governor  lorded  it,  and  none  but  the 
Roman  soldier  durst  stand ;  I  saw  Jubal  hunting  out, 
and  making  signs  to  me  through  the  crowd,  from  the 
esplanade  above.  I  was  instantly  recognized,  and  all  made 
way  for  my  ascent  up  those  gorgeous  and  almost  countless 
steps  of  porphyry,  that  formed  one  of  the  wonders  of 
Jerusalem. 

"We  have  been  in  alarm  about  you,"  said  he,  hastily, 
"but,  come  to  the  council;  we  have  wasted  half  the  night 
in  perplexing  ourselves.  Some  are  timid,  and  call  out  for 
submission  on  any  terms ;  some  are  rash,  and  would  plunge 
us  unprepared  into  the  Roman  camps.  And  lastly,  we  are 
not  without  our  traitors,  who  confound  all  opinions,  and 
who  are  making  work  for  Roman  gold  and  iron.  Your 
voice  will  decide.  Speak  at  once,  and  speak  your  mind; 
your  kinsmen  will  support  it  with  their  lives."  . 

The  council  was  held  in  the  amphitheatre  of  the  palace. 
The  heads  of  families  and  principal  men  of  the  people  had 
crowded  into  it,  until  the  council,  instead  of  the  privacy 
of  a  few  chieftains,  assumed  the  look  of  a  great  popular 
assembly.  Tens  of  thousands  had  forced  themselves  into 
the  seats;  every  bosom  responding  to  every  accent  of  the 
speakers,  a  mighty  instrument  vibrating  through  all  its 
strings  to  the  master's  hand.  Accustomed  as  I  was,  by 
the  festivals  of  our  nation,  to  the  sight  of  great  bodies 
of  men  swayed  by  a  common  impulse,  I  stopped,  in  aston- 
ishment, at  the  entrance  of  the  colossal  circle.  Three- 
fourths  of  it  were  almost  totally  dark,  giving  a  shadowy 
intimation  of  human  beings,  by  the  light  of  a  few  scattered 
torches,  or  the  feeble  dawn,  that  rounded  the  extreme 
height  with  a  ring  of  pale  and  moonlike  rays.  But,  in 
the  center  of  the  arena  a  fire  blazed  broadly,  and  shovn-1 
the  leaders  of  the  deliberation,  seated  in  the  splendid 
chairs  once  assigned  to  the  Roman  governors  and  legion- 
ary tribunes.  Eleazar  filled  the  temporary  throne. 

The  chief  man  of  the  land  of  Ephraim  was  haranguing 
the  assembly,  as  I  entered.  "Go  to  war  with  Rome !" 
pronounced  he;  "you  might  as  well  go  to  war  with  the 
ocean,  for  her  power  is  as  wide;  you  might  as  well  fight 
the  storm,  for  her  vengeance  is  as  rapid ;  you  might  as  well 
call  up  the  armies  of  Judca  against  the  pestilence,  for  her 


8ALATHIEL.  75 

sword  is  as  sweeping,  as  sudden,  and  as  sure.  Who  but 
madmen  would  go  to  war  without  allies?  and  where  are 
yours  to  be  looked  for!  Home  is  the  mistress  of  all  na- 
tions. Would  you  make  a  war  of  fortresses?  Rome  has 
in  her  possession  all  your  walled  towns.  Every  tower 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba  has  a  Roman  banner  on  its  battle- 
ments. Would  you  meet  her  in  the  plain?  Where  are 
your  horsemen?  The  Roman  cavalry  would  be  upon 
you  before  you  could  draw  your  swords,  and  would  trample 
you  into  the  sand.  Would  you  make  the  campaign  in  the 
mountains?  The  Roman  generals  would  disdain  to  waste 
a  drop  of  blood  upon  you;  they  would  only  have  to  block 
up  the  passes,  and  leave  famine  to  do  the  rest.  Harvest 
is  not  come;  and  if  it  were,  you  dare  not  descend  to  the 
plains  to  gather  it.  You  are  told  to  rely  upon  the  strength 
of  the  country.  Have  the  fiery  sands  of  the  desert,  or  the 
marshes  of  Germany,  or  the  snows  of  Scythia,  or  the 
stormy  waters  of  Britain,  defended  them?  Does  Egypt, 
within  your  sight,  give  you  no  example?  A  land  of  in- 
exhaustible fertility,  crowded  with  seven  millions  of  men, 
passionately  devoted  to  their  country,  opulent,  brave,  and 
sustained  by  the  countless  millions  of  Africa,  with  a 
country  defended  on  both  flanks  by  the  wilderness,  in  the 
rear  inaccessible  to  the  Roman,  exposing  the  narrowest 
and  most  defensible  front  of  any  nation  on  earth:  yet 
Egypt,  in  spite  of  the  Lybian  valor,  and  the  Greek  genius, 
is  garrisoned  at  this  hour  by  a  single  Roman  legion! 
The  Roman  bird,  grasping  the  thunder  in  its  talons,  and 
touching  with  one  wing  the  sunrise,  and  with  the  other  the 
sunset,  throws  its  shadow  over  the  world.  Shall  we  call 
it  to  stoop  upon  us?  Must  we  spread  for  it  the  new 
banquet  of  the  blood  of  Israel?" 

How  different  is  the  power  of  speech  upon  men  sitting 
in  the  common,  peaceful  circumstances  of  public  assem- 
blage, from  its  tyranny,  over  minds  anxious  about  their 
own  fates !  All  that  I  had  ever  seen  of  public  excitement 
was  stone  and  ice,  to  the  burning  interest  that  hung  upon 
every  word  of  the  orator.  The  name  of  Onias  was  famous 
in  Judea,  but  I  now  saw  him  for  the  first  time.  His  had 
been  a  life  of  ambition,  compassed  often  by  desperate 
means,  and  woe  be  to  the  man  who  stood  between  him  and 
his  object.  By  the  dagger,  and  by  subserviency  to  the 


76  SALATHIEL. 

Roman  procurators,  he  had  risen  to  the  highest  rank  be- 
low the  throne.  In  the  distractions  of  a  time  which  broke 
off  the  regular  succession  of  the  sons  of  Aaron,  Onias  had 
even  been  high  priest;  but  Eleazar,  heading  the  popular 
indignation,  had  expelled  him  from  the  Temple,  after  one 
month  of  troubled  supremacy.  I  could  read  his  history 
in  the  haughty  figure,  and  daring,  yet  wily  visage,  that 
stood  in  bold  relief  before  the  central  flame.  But,  to  the 
assemblage  his  declamation  had  infinite  power;  they  lis- 
tened, as  to  the  words  of  life  and  death;  they  had  come, 
not  to  delight  their  ears  with  showy  periods,  but  to  hear 
what  they  must  do  to  escape  that  inexorable  fury  which 
might  within  a  few  days,  or  hours,  be  let  loose  upon  every 
individual  head.  All  was  alternately  the  deepest  silence, 
and  the  most  tumultuous  agitation.  At  his  strong  ap- 
peals, they  writhed  their  athletic  forms,  they  gnashed  their 
teeth,  they  tore  their  hair;  some  crouched  to  the  ground 
with  their  faces  buried  in  their  hands,  as  if  shutting  out 
the  coming  horrors;  some  started  upright,  brandishing 
their  rude  weapons,  and  tossing  their  naked  limbs  in 
gestures  of  defiance;  some  ^at  bending  down,  and  throw- 
ing back  their  long  locks,  that  not  a  syllable  might  escape ; 
others  knelt,  with  their  quivering  hands  clasped,  and  their 
pallid  countenances  turned  up  in  agony  of  prayer.  Many 
had  been  wounded,  and  their  foreheads  and  limbs  hastily 
bound  up  were  still  stained  with  gore.  Turbans  and  robes 
rent  and  discolored  with  dust  and  burning  were  on  every 
side,  and  the  whole  immense  multitude  bore  the  look  of 
men  who  had  but  just  struggled  out  of  some  great  calam- 
ity, to  find  themselves  on  the  verge  of  one  still  more  ir- 
remediable. 

The  orator  found  that  his  impression  was  made ;  and  he 
hastened  to  the  close.  For  this  he  reserved  the  sting. 
"If  it  be  the  desire  of  those  who  seek  the  downfall  of 
Judah,  that  we  should  go  to  war,  let  it  be  the  first  wisdom 
of  those  who  seek  its  safety,  to  disappoint,  to  defy,  and 
to  denounce  them."  The  words  were  followed  by  a  visi- 
ble movement  among  the  hearers.  "Let  an  embassy  be 
instantly  sent  to  the  pro-consul,"  said  he,  "lamenting  the 
excesses  of  the  night,  and  offering  hostages  for  peace." 
The  silence  grew  breathless;  the  orator,  wrapped  in  his 
robe,  and  bending  his  head,  like  a  tiger,  crouching,  waited 


for  the  work  of  the  passions;  then  suddenly  starting  up, 
and  fixing  his  stormy  gaze  full  on  Eleazar,  thundered  out, 
"And  at  the  head  of  those  hostages,  let  the  incendiary  who 
caused  this  night's  havoc,  be  sent,  and  sent  in  chains !" 

The  words  were  received  with  fierce  applause  by  the 
assemblage;  and  crowds  rushed  into  the  arena,  to  enforce 
them  by  the  seizure  of  Eleazar.  I  glanced  at  him ;  his  life 
hung  by  a  hair,  but  not  a  feature  of  his  noble  countenance 
was  disturbed;  I  sprang  upon  the  pavement  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne;  every  moment  was  precious;  the  multitude 
were  raging  with  the  fury  of  wild  beasts.  My  voice  was 
at  length  heard ;  the  name  of  Salathiel  had  become  power- 
ful, and  the  tumult  partially  subsided.  My  words  were 
few,  but  they  came  from  the  heart.  I  asked  them  was 
it  to  be  thought  of,  that  they  should  deliver  up  men  of 
their  own  nation,  of  their  purest  blood,  the  last  scions 
of  the  noblest  families  of  Israel,  into  the  hands  of  the 
idolater! — and  for  what  crime?  For  an  act  which  every 
true  Israelite  would  glory  to  have  done;  for  rescuing  the 
altar  of  the  living  God  from  pollution.  I  bade  them, 
"beware  of  dipping  their  hands  in  righteous  blood,  for  the 
gratification  of  a  revenge,  that  had  for  twenty  years 
poisoned  the  breast  of  a  hoary  traitor  to  his  priesthood 
and  his  country."  There  was  a  dead  silence.  I  pursued. 

"We  are  threatened  with  the  irresistible  power  of  Home. 
Were  we  to  forget,  that  Eome  was  at  this  moment  torn 
with  internal  miseries,  her  provinces  in  revolt,  her  senate 
decimated,  her  citizens  turned  into  a  mass  of  jailors  and 
prisoners;  and,  darkest  sign  of  degradation,  that  Nero 
was  upon  her  throne?"  The  multitude  began  to  feel. 

"Whom,"  said  I,  "have  we  comquered  this  night?  A 
Roman  garrison.  Where  have  we  conquered  them?  In 
the  midst  of  their  walls  and  machines.  By  whom  was 
the  conquest  achieved?  By  the  unarmed,  undisciplined, 
unguided  men  of  Israel.  The  shepherd,  and  the  tiller  of 
the  ground,  with  but  the  staff  and  sling,  smote  the  cuirassed 
Roman,  as  the  son  of  Jesse  smote  the  Philistine !" 

The  native  bravery  of  the  people  lived  again,  and  they 
shouted,  in  the  language  of  the  Temple,  "Glory  to  the 
.King  of  Israel !  Glory  to  the  God  of  David !" 

Onias  saw  the  tide  turning,  and  started  from  his  seat 
to  address  the  assembly ;  but  he  was  overpowered  with  out- 


78  8  AL  ATE  I  EL. 

cries  of  anger.  Furious  at  the  loss  of  his  fame  and  his 
revenge,  he  rushed  through  the  arena  towards  the  spot 
where  I  stood.  Jubal,  ever  gallant  and  watchful,  bounded 
to  my  side,  and  seized  the  traitor's  hand,  in  the  act  of  un- 
sheathing a  dagger;  he  wrested  the  weapon  from  him,  and 
was  ready  to  have  plunged  it  in  his  heart,  at  a  sign  from 
me.  Eleazar's  sonorous  voice  was  then  first  heard.  "Let 
no  violence  be  done  upon  that  slave  of  his  passions.  No 
Jewish  blood  must  stain  our  holy  cause.  Eeturn,  Onias, 
to  your  tribe,  and  give  the  rest  of  your  days  to  repentance." 
Jubal  cast  the  baffled  homicide  from  his  grasp  far  into 
the  crowd. 

The  universal  echo  now  was  "war !"  "Ruin  to  the 
idolater.  War  for  the  Temple."  "War,"  I  exclaimed,  "is 
wisdom,  honor,  security.  Let  us  bow  our  necks  again,  | 
and  we  shall  be  rewarded  by  the  axe.  The  Romans  never 
forgive,  until  the  brave  man  who  resists  is  either  a  slave 
or  a  corpse;  the  work  of  this  night  has  put  us  beyond 
pardon ;  and  our  only  hope  is  in  arms,  the  appeal  to  that 
sovereign  justice  before  which  nothing  is  strong  but  virtue, 
truth,  and  patriotism.  War  is  inevitable,  and  will  be 
glorious !" 

My  words,  few  as  they  were,  rekindled  the  chilled  ardor 
of  the  national  heart.  They  were  followed  by  shouts  for 
instant  battle.  "War  against  the  world  !  liberty  to  Israel !" 
Some  voices  began  a  hymn;  the  habits  of  the  people  pre- 
pared them  for  this  powerful  mode  of  expressing  their 
sympathies.  The  whole  assembly  spontaneously  stood  up, 
and  joined  in  the  hymn.  The  magnificent  invocation  of 
David,  "Let  God  arise,  and  let  his  enemies  be  scattered," 
ascended  in  solemn  harmonies  on  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing. It  was  heard  over  the  awaking  city,  and  answered; 
the  chant  of  glory  spread  to  the  encampments  on  the  sur- 
rounding hills;  and  in  every  pause,  we  heard  the  responses 
rolling  on  the  air,  in  rich  thunder. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE  result  of  our  deliberation  was,  that  Israel  should 
be  summoned  to  make  a  last  grand  effort ;  that  Jerusalem 
should  be  left  with  a  strong  garrison,  as  the  centre  of  the 


BALATLIIEL.  79 

armies;  and  that  every  chief tian  should  set  forth,  to  stir 
up  the  energies  of  his  people. 

Eleazar  and  his  kinsmen  were  instantly  upon  the  road 
to  the  mountains;  and  all  was  haste,  and  that  mixture  of 
anxiety  and  animation  which  makes  all  other  life  taste- 
less and  colorless  to  the  warrior.  With  what  new  vivid- 
ness did  not  the  coming  conflict  invest  the  varied  and 
romantic  country,  through  which  we  had  already  jour- 
neyed so  often !  The  hill,  the  marble  ravine,  the  superb 
sweep  of  forest,  that  we  once  looked  on  but  with  the  vague 
indulgence  of  the  picturesque  eye,  now  filled  us  with  the 
vision  of  camps  and  battles.  Hunters  of  the  lion,  we  had 
felt  something  of  this  interest,  in  tracing  the  ground  where 
we  were  to  combat  the  kingly  savage.  But,  what  were  the 
triumphs  of  the  chase,  to  the  mighty  chances  of  that  strug- 
gle, in  which  a  kingdom  was  to  be  the  field,  and  the 
Roman  glory  the  prey  : 

Man  is  belligerent  by  nature,  and  the  thought  of  war- 
summons  up  sensations,  and  even  faculties,  within  him, 
that  in  the  common  course  of  life  would  have  been  no 
more  discoverable  than  the  bottom  of  the  sea;  the  moral 
earthquake  must  come,  to  strip  the  depths  of  the  heart 
to  our  gaze.  Even  Eleazar's  calm  and  grave  wisdom  felt 
the  spirit  of  the  time,  and  he  reasoned  on  the  probabilities 
of  the  struggle,  with  the  lofty  ardor  of  a  king  preparing  to 
win  a  new  throne.  JubaPs  sanguine  temper  was  irre- 
strainable;  he  was  the  war-horse  in  the  sight  of  the  ban- 
ners; his  bronzed  cheek  glowed  with  hope  and  exultation; 
he  saw  in  every  cloud  of  dust  a  Roman  squadron;  and 
grasped  his  lance,  and  wheeled  his  foaming  charger,  with 
the  eager  joy  of  a  soldier  longing  to  assuage  his  thirst  for 
battle. 

The  weight  on  my  melancholy  mind  was  beyond  the 
power  of  chance  or  time  to  remove ;  but  a  new  strength  was 
in  the  crisis.  The  world  to  me  was  covered  with  clouds 
eternal,  but  it  was  now  brightened  by  a  wild  and  keen 
lustre;  I  saw  my  way  by  the  lightning.  An  irresistible 
conviction  still  told  me,  that  the  last  day  of  Israel  was 
approaching,  and  that  no  sacrifice  of  valor  could  avert 
the  ruin.  In  the  midst  of  the  loudest  exhilaration  of  the 
fearless  hearts  around  me,  the  picture  of  the  coming  ruin 
would  grow  upon  my  eyes.  I  saw  my  generous  friends 


$0  8ALATHIEL. 

perish  one  by  one ;  my  household  desolate ;  every  name  that 
I  ever  loved  passed  away.  When  I  bent  my  eyes  round  the 
horizon  luxuriating  in  the  golden  sunshine  of  the  east, 
I  saw  but  a  huge  altar,  covered  with  the  fatal  offerings  of 
a  slaughtered  people. 

And  this  was  seen,  not  with  the  misty  uncertainty  of 
a  mind  prone  to  dreams  of  evil;  but  with  a  clearness  of 
foresight,  a  distinct  and  defined  reality,  that  left  no  room 
for  conjecture.  Yet,  and  here  was  the  bitterest  part  of 
my  meditation,  what  was  all  this  ruin  to  me  ?  What  were 
those  men  and  women,  and  households  and  lands,  but  as 
the  leaves  on  the  wind,  to  me !  I  might  strive,  in  the 
last  extremities  of  their  struggle.  I  might  undergo  the 
agonies  of  death  with  them  a  thousand  times;  and  I  in- 
wardly pledged  myself  never  to  desert  their  cause,  while 
through  pain  or  sorrow  I  could  cling  to  it :  but  this  devo- 
tion, however  protracted  must  have  an  end.  I  must  see  the 
final  hour  of  them  all ;  and  more  unhappy,  more  destitute, 
more  undone  than  all,  I  must  be  deprived  of  the  conso- 
lation of  making  my  tomb  with  the  righteous,  and  laying 
my  weary  heart  in  the  slumbers  of  their  grave !  Still,  I 
experienced  more  than  the  keenest  fervor  of  the  impulse, 
which  was  now  burning  around  me.  With  me,  it  was  not 
kingly  care,  nor  the  animal  ardency  of  the  soldier.  It  was 
the  high  stimulation  of  something  like  the  infusion  of  a 
new  principle  of  existence.  I  felt  as  if  I  had  become  the 
vehicle  of  a  descended  spirit.  A  ceaseless  current  of 
thought  ran  through  my  brain.  Old  knowledge,  which 
I  had  utterly  forgotten,  revived  in  me  with  spontaneous 
freshness.  Casual  impressions  and  long  past  years  arose, 
with  their  stamps  and  marks  as  clear,  as  if  a  hoard  of 
medals  had  been  suddenly  brought  to  light,  and  thrown 
before  me.  I  ran  over  in  my  recollection  persons  and 
names  even  with  painful  accuracy.  The  conceptions  of 
those  for  whom  I  once  felt  habitual  deference,  were  now 
seen  by  me  in  their  nakedness.  All  that  was  habitual  was 
passed  away;  I  saw  intuitively  the  vanity  and  giddiness, 
the  inconsequential  reasoning,  the  bewildering  prejudice, 
which  made  up  what,  in  other  days,  I  had  called  the  wis- 
dom of  the  wise. 

As  I  threw  out  in  the  most  unpremeditated  language 
the  ideas  thus  glowing  and  struggling  for  escape,  I  found, 


BALATBIEL.  81 

that  the  impression,  of  some  extraordinary  excitement  in 
me,  was  universal.  Accustomed  to  be  heard  with  the 
attention  due  to  my  rank,  I  now  saw  the  ears  and  eyes  of 
my  fellow-travellers  turned  on  me  with  an  evident  and 
deferential  surprise.  When  I  talked  of  the  hopes  of  the 
country,  of  the  resources  of  the  enemy,  of  the  kingdoms 
that  would  be  ready  to  make  common  cause  with  us  against 
the  galling  tyranny  of  Nero,  of  the  glory  of  fighting  for 
our  altars,  and  of  the  imperishable  honors  of  those  whose 
blood  earned  peace  for  their  children;  they  listened  as 
to  something  more  than  man.  "Was  I  the  prophet,  dele- 
gated at  last  to  lead  Judea  to  her  glory?" 

At  those  discourses,  bursting  from  my  lip  with  uncon- 
scious fire,  the  old  men  would  vow  the  remnant  of  their 
days  to  the  field ;  the  young  would  sweep  over  the  country 
performing  the  evolutions  of  the  Roman  cavalry,  then  re- 
turn brandishing  their  weapons,  and  demanding  to  be  let 
loose  on  the  first  cohort  that  crossed  the  horizon.  With  me, 
every  pulse  now  was  war.  The  interest  which  this  new 
direction  of  our  minds  gave  to  all  things,  grew  perpetually 
intenser  in  mine.  I  spurred  to  the  barren  heath;  it  had 
now  no  deformity,  for  upon  it  I  saw  the  spot  from  which 
battle  might  be  offered  to  an  army  advancing  through  the 
valley  below.  The  marsh  that  spread  its  yellow  stagnation 
over  the  plain,  might  be  worth  a  province,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  my  camp.  The  thicket,  the  broken  bank  of  the 
torrent,  the  bluff  promontory,  the  rock,  the  sand,  every 
repellent  feature  of  the  landscape,  was  invested  with  the 
value  of  a  thing  of  life  and  death,  a  portion  of  the  great 
stake,  in  the  game  that  was  so  soon  to  be  played  for  restora- 
tion or  ruin. 

Those  are  the  delights  of  solidership,  the  indescribable 
and  brilliant  colorings  which  the  sense  of  danger,  the  de- 
sire of  fame,  and  the  hope  of  triumph,  throw  over 
life  and  nature.  Yet,  if  war  was  ever  to  be  forgiven  for 
its  cause,  to  be  justified  by  the  high  remembrances  and 
desperate  injuries  of  a  people,  or  to  be  encouraged  by  the 
physical  strength  of  a  country,  it  was  this,  the  final  war 
of  Israel.  In  all  my  wanderings,  I  have  seen  no  kingdom, 
for  defence,  equal  to  Judea.  It  had  in  the  highest  degree 
the  three  grand  essentials,  compactness  of  territory,  dens- 
ity of  population,  and  strength  of  frontier.  If  I  were,. 


82  8ALATHIEL. 

at  this  hour,  to  be  sent  forth  to  select  from  the  earth  a 
kingdom;  I  should  say,  even  extinguishing  the  recollec- 
tions of  my  being,  and  the  love  which  I  bear  to  the  very 
weeds  of  my  country — for  beauty,  for  climate,  for  natural 
wealth,  and  for  invincible  security,  give  me  Judea ! 

The  Land  of  Promise  had  been  chosen  by  the  Supreme 
Wisdom,  for  the  inheritance  of  a  people  destined  to  be 
unconquerable,  while  they  continued  pure.  It  was  sur- 
rounded, on  all  sides  but  one,  by  mountain  and  desert; 
and  that  one  was  defended  by  the  sea,  which  at  the  same 
time  opened  to  it  the  intercourse  with  the  richest  coun- 
tries of  the  west.  On  the  north,  opposed  to  the  vast  popu- 
lation of  Asia  Minor,  it  was  protected  by  the  double  range 
of  the  Libanus  and  Antilibanus,  a  region  of  forests  and 
defiles,  at  all  seasons  nearly  impassable  to  chariots  and  cav- 
alry; and,  during  winter,  barred  up  with  torrents  and 
snows.  The  whole  frontier  on  the  east  and  south  was 
a  wall  of  mountain  rising  from  a  desert;  a  durable  bar- 
rier, over  which  no  enemy,  exhausted  by  the  privations  of 
an  Asiatic  march,  could  force  their  way  against  a  brave 
army,  waiting  fresh  within  its  own  confines.  But  even  if 
the  Syrian  wastes  of  sand,  and  the  fiery  soil  of  Arabia, 
left  the  invaders  strength  to  master  the  mountain  de- 
fences, the  whole  interior  was  full  of  the  finest  positions 
for  defence,  that  ever  caught  the  soldier's  eye. 

All  the  mountains  sent  branches  through  the  champaign. 
As  we  spurred  up  the  sides  of  Carmel,  we  saw  a  horizon 
covered  with  hills,  like  clouds.  Every  city  was  built  on 
an  eminence,  and  capable  of  being  instantly  converted  into 
a  fortress.  But,  while  an  army  kept  the  field,  the  larger 
operations  of  strategy  would  have  found  matchless  sup- 
port in  the  course  of  the  Jordan,  the  second  defence  of 
Judea ;  a  line  passing  through  the  whole  central  country 
from  north  to  south,  with  the  lake  of  Tiberias  and  the  lake 
Asphalti ties  at  either  extreme,  at  once  defending,  and  sup- 
plying, the  movements  in  front,  flank,  and  rear. 

The  territory  thus  defensible  had  an  additional  and 
superior  strength  in  the  character  and  habits  of  its  popu- 
lation. In  a  space  of  two  hundred  miles  long  by  a  hun- 
dred broad,  its  inhabitants  once  amounted  to  nearly  four 
millions,  tillers  of  the  ground,  bold  tribes,  invigorated 
by  their  life  of  industry,  and  connected  with  each  other 


BALATHtEL.  83 

by  the  most  intimate  and  frequent  intercourse,  under 
the  divine  command.  By  the  la  w  of  Moses — may  he 
rest  in  glory ! — every  man  from  twenty  to  sixty  was 
liable  to  be  called  on  for  the  general  defence;  and  the 
customary  armament  of  the  tribes  was  appointed  at  six 
hundred  thousand  men ! 

The  munitions  of  war  were  in  abundance.  All  the 
variety  of  troops  known  in  the  ancient  armies  were  to 
be  found  in  Judea,  in  the  highest  discipline;  from  the 
spearsman  to  the  archer  and  the  slinger,  from  the  heavy- 
armed  soldier  of  the  fortress  to  the  ranger  of  the  desert 
and  the  mountain.  Cavalry  were  prohibited ;  for  the  great 
purpose  of  the  Jewish  armament  was  defence.  The  spirit 
of  the  Jewish  code  was  peace.  By  the  prohibition  of  cav- 
alry, no  conquest  could  be  made  on  the  bordering  king- 
doms of  interminable  plains.  The  command,  that  the 
males  of  the  tribes  should  go  up  thrice  in  the  year  to  the 
great  festivals  of  Jerusalem,  was  equally  opposed  to  the 
encroachments  on  the  neighboring  states.  It  was  not 
until  Israel  had  abandoned  the  purity  of  the  original 
Covenant  with  Heaven  that  the  evils  of  ambition,  or  tyr- 
anny, were  felt  within  her  borders. 

Her  whole  polity  was  under  a  divine  sanction;  and  her 
whole  preservation  was  distinguished  by  the  perpetual 
agency  of  miracle,  for  the  obvious  purpose  of  compelling 
the  people  to  know  the  God  of  their  fathers.  But  the 
physical  strength  of  such  a  people  in  such  a  territory  was 
incalculable.  Severity  of  climate  will  not  ultimately  re- 
pel an  invader,  for  that  severity  scatters  and  exhausts  the 
native  population.  Difficulties  of  country  have  been  per- 
petually overpassed  by  a  daring  invader  in  the  attack  of  a 
feeble  or  negligent  people.  To  what  nation  were  their 
gnows,  their  marshes,  or  their  sands  a  barrier  against  the 
great  armies  of  the  ancient  or  the  modern  world?  The 
Alps  and  the  Pyrenees  have  been  passed  as  often  as  they 
have  been  attempted.  But  no  empire  can  conquer  a  na- 
tion of  millions  of  men  determined  to  resist;  no  army 
that  could  be  thrown  across  the  frontier  would  find  the 
means  of  penetrating  through  a  compact  population,  of 
which  every  man  was  a  soldier,  and  every  soldier  was 
fighting  for  his  own. 

The  Jew  was,  by  his  law,  a  free  proprietor  of  the  soil. 


84  8ALATBIEL. 

He  was  no  serf,  no  broken  vassal.  He  inherited  his  por- 
tion of  the  land  by  an  irrevocable  title.  Debt,  misfortune, 
or  time  could  not  extinguish  his  right.  Capable  of  being 
alienated  from  him  for  a  few  years,  the  land  returned 
at  the  Jubilee.  He  was  then  once  more  a  possessor,  the 
master  of  competence,  and  restored  to  his  rank  among 
his  fellow  men.  This  bond,  the  most  benevolent,  and 
the  strongest,  that  ever  bound  man  to  a  country,  was  the 
bond  of  the  Covenant.  If  Israel  had  held  the  institu- 
tions of  her  Lawgiver  inviolate,  she  would  have  seen  the 
Assyrian,  the  Egyptian,  and  the  Roman,  with  all  their 
multitudes,  only  food  for  the  vulture.  But,  we  were  a 
rebellious  people;  we  sullied  the  purity  of  the  Mosaic  or- 
dinances; we  abandoned  the  sublime  ceremonial  of  its 
worship,  for  the  profligate  rites  of  paganism;  we  rejected 
the  Lord  of  the  Theocracy  for  the  pomps  of  an  earthly 
king.  Then,  the  mighty  protection  that  had  been  to  us  as 
eagle's  wings,  and  as  a  wall  of  fire,  was  withdrawn.  Our 
first  punishment  was  by  our  own  hand ;  the  union  of  Israel 
was  a  band  of  flax  in  the  flame.  The  tribes  revolted.  The 
time  was  come  for  the  hostile  idolater  to  do  his  work. 
We  were  overwhelmed  by  enemies  in  alliance  with  our 
own  blood.  The  banners  of  Jacob  were  seen  waving  be- 
side the  banners  of  Ashtaroth  and  Apis.  An  opening  was 
made  into  the  bosom  of  the  land  for  all  invasion;  the 
barriers  of  the  mountain  and  the  desert  were  in  vain;  the 
proverbial  bravery  of  the  Jew  only  rendered  his  chain 
more  severe;  and  the  policy  that,  of  old,  united  the  high- 
est wisdom  with  the  most  benevolent  mercy,  became  at 
once  the  scoff  and  problem  of  the  pagan  world. 

But  opulence,  salubrity,  and  luxuriance  of  production, 
belonged  to  the  site  of  the  land  of  Israel.  It  lay  central 
between  the  richest  regions  of  the  world.  It  was  the 
natural  road  of  the  traffic  of  India  with  the  west ;  thai 
traffic,  which  raised  Tyre  and  Sidon  from  rocks  and  shal- 
lows on  a  fragment  of  the  shore  of  Asia,  into  magnificent 
cities;  and  which  was  yet  to  raise  into  political  power 
and  unrivalled  wealth  the  rocks  and  shallows  of  the  re- 
motest shore  of  the  Mediterranean.  Our  mountain  ranges 
tempered  the  hot  winds  from  the  wilderness.  The  sea 
cooled  the  summer  heats  with  the  living  breeze,  and  tem- 
pered the  chill  of  winter.  Our  fields  teeme^  with  per- 
petual fruits  and  flowers. 


8ALATHIEL.  85 

The  extent  of  the  land,  though  narrow,  when  con- 
trasted with  the  surrounding  kingdoms,  was  yet  not  to 
be  measured  by  its  lineal  boundaries;  a  country,  inter- 
sected everywhere  with  chains  of  hills  capable  of  cultiva- 
tion to  the  summit,  alike  multiplies  its  surface,  and  varies 
its  climate.  We  had,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  the  products 
of  the  torrid  zone;  on  its  side  those  of  the  temperate;  on 
its  summit  the  robust  vegetation  of  the  north.  The  as- 
cending circles  of  the  orange  grove,  the  vineyard  and  the 
forest  covered  it  with  perpetual  beauty. 

This  scene  of  matchless  productiveness  is  fair  and  fer- 
tile no  more.  For  ages,  before  my  eyes  opened  on  the 
land  of  my  fathers,  the  national  misfortunes  had  im- 
paired its  original  loveliness.  The  schism  of  the  tribes, 
the  ravages  of  successive  invaders,  and,  still  more,  the 
continued  presence  of  the  idolater  and  the  alien  in  the 
heart  of  the  land,  turned  large  portions  of  it  into  'desert. 
The  final  fall  almost  destroyed  the  traces  of  its  fruitful- 
ness.  What  can  be  demanded  from  the  soil,  lorded  over 
by  the  tyranny  of  the  Moslem,  stripped  of  its  population, 
and  given  up  by  poverty,  to  the  mendicant,  the  monk,  and 
the  robber? 

But,  more  than  human  evil  smote  my  unhappy  coun- 
try. The  curse  pronounced  by  our  great  prophet  three 
thousand  years  ago,  has  been  deeply  fulfilled.  "The 
stranger  that  shall  come  from  a  far  land  shall  say,  when 
he  beholdeth  the  plagues  of  the  land,  and  the  sickness 
that  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  it,  the  land  of  brimstone 
and  salt  and  burning,  even  all  nations  shall  say,  'Where- 
fore hath  the  Lord  done  this  unto  this  land  ?  What  mean- 
eth  the  heat  of  this  great  anger?'  Then  men  shall  say, 
'Because  they  have  forsaken  the  covenant  of  the  Lord 
God  of  their  fathers !'  '' 

Yet,  what  might  have  been  the  progress  of  this  peo- 
ple !  The  glory  of  Israel  is  no  fine  vision  of  the  fancy. 
The  same  prophetic  word  which  has  given  terrible  demon- 
stration of  its  reality  in  our  ruin,  declares  the  hope  once 
held  forth  to  our  obedience.  Judea  was  to  have  borne  the 
first  rank  among  nations;  to  have  been  an  object  of  uni- 
versal honor;  to  have  been  unconquerable;  to  have  en- 
joyed unwearied  fertility;  protected  from  the  casualities 
of  the  elements;  free  from  disease;  the  life  of  its  people 


86  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

continuing  to  the  furthest  limit  of  our  nature.  A  bless- 
ing was  to  be  upon  the  labors,  the  possessions,  and  the 
persons,  of  the  tribes;  all  Israel,  a  holy  nation,  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  word — a  sovereign  race,  to  which  the 
world  should  pay  a  willing  and  happy  homage.  We  must 
add  to  these  high  attributes  the  direct  influence  of  a  gov- 
erning people,  placed  in  its  rank  for  the  express  purpose 
of  a  guide  to  nations.  Combining  the  knowledge,  and 
devotedness,  of  a  priesthood,  with  the  actual  power,  and 
dignity,  of  kings;  by  its  own  constitution  as  safe  from 
all  encroachment,  as  prohibited  from  all  aggression;  in- 
formed by  the  immediate  wisdom,  and  sustained  by  the 
visible  arm  of  Omnipotence;  Judea  might  have  changed 
the  earth  into  a  paradise,  and  raised  universal  man  to  the 
highest  happiness,  knowledge,  and  grandeur,  of  human 
nature ! 


CHAPTER  XII. 

WAR  was  now  inevitable.  Attempts  had  been  made  by 
our  rulers  to  propitiate  the  Eoman  Emperor,  but  their 
answer  was  the  march  of  a  Legion  to  Jerusalem.  The 
seizure  of  some  of  the  people  who  had  made  themselves 
conspicuous  in  the  late  capture  of  the  citadel  followed, 
and  an  order  was  despatched  to  the  Governor  of  Galilee 
for  the  execution  of  Eleazar.  His  tribe  instantly  assem- 
bled ;  and  all  voices  were  for  resistance.  My  noble  kins- 
man, still  pacific,  offered  himself  as  the  victim.  But  this 
generous  sacrifice  we  all  denounced,  and  called  for  war. 
The  apointment  of  a  Leader  was  next  debated  in  a  hur- 
ried assemblage,  to  which  every  head  of  a  village  came  in 
arms.  No  man  could  contest  the  command  with  Eleazar. 
But  he  declined  it,  from  a  sense  of  his  experience  in  war, 
in  a  few  simple  words.  Then,  suddenly  bursting  into  ar- 
dor, he  exclaimed,  "Our  war  is  holy.  It  is  not  to  be  haz- 
arded on  the  claims  of  hereditary  rank,  personal  freedom, 
or  even  on  national  favoritism.  The  only  claims  which 
the  nation  must  acknowledge  in  its  extremity  are  the 
rights  of  tried  talent,  experienced  intrepidity  and  un- 
questionable service.  Such  a  leader  stands  among  us  at 
thjs  moment,"  Every  eye  was  turned  upon  me.  "Yes/1 


SALATHIEL.  87 

exclaimed  my  noble  kinsman,  "you  have  already  made 
your  choice.  Genius,  valor  and  success  have  combined 
to  mark  one  man  for  the  leader  of  Israel.  He  is  worthy 
of  the  diadem."  Then,  turning  to  me  and  lifting  his 
hand,  as  if  he  was  letting  fall  the  diadem  upon  my  head, 
"Go  forth,"  cried  he,  in  a  tone  of  almost  prophetic  grand- 
eur. "Go  forth,  Prince  of  Naphtali,  leader  of  Israel,  to 
break  the  chains  of  Judah  and  conquer  in  the  cause  of 
man  and  Heaven."  The  words  were  received  with  ac- 
clamation ! 

I  vainly  protested  against  the  general  voice,  that  I  was 
a  priest  of  the  Temple;  of  the  house  of  Aaron,  of  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  and  bound  to  Naphtali,  only  by  ties  of 
kindred  and  gratitude.  I  was  answered  by  a  multitude 
of  voices,  that  my  summons  was  actually  in  the  service  of 
the  Temple;  that  war  extinguished  all  office  but  that  of 
defending  the  country.  That  I  had  long  retired  from  the 
duties  of  the  priesthood;  that  Moses  was  at  once  the 
priest  and  the  leader ;  that  Samuel  was  at  once  the  prophet 
and  the  Sovereign  of  Israel,  and,  above  all,,  that  I  had 
shown  myself  by  daring  and  success  almost  superior  to 
man;  the  Heaven-elected  leader  of  Israel. 

I  acknowledge  that  my  heart  was  with  the  answerers, 
and  I  at  length  gave  way  to  what,  even  I  believed  to  be 
the  will  of  more  than  man.  A  thousand  falchions,  wielded 
by  as  sinewy  hands  as  ever  drew  sword,  w,ere  instantly 
moved  round  my  head,  I  was  placed  on  a  shield,  and  in 
this  ancient  fashion  of  our  countrymen  I  was  inaugurated 
Prince  of  Naphtali.  This  was  one  of  the  blinding  flashes 
that  broke  in  from  time  to  time  on  my  gloomy  career. 
When  the  assemblage  broke  up  and  I  returned  towards 
my  mountain  home,  I  was  still  in  the  excitement  of  the 
scene.  I  even  began  to  imagine  that  my  terrible  sentence 
was  about  to  be  lightened,  perhaps  to  pass  away;  my  sta- 
tion in  life  was  now  fixed;  services  of  the  highest  rank  in 
the  noblest  cause  were  before  me,  and  I  felt  myself  ex- 
claiming, even  to  the  solitude,  "I  am  Prince  of  Naphtali." 
My  exultation  was  soon  to  have  a  fall. 

It  was  the  evening  of  one  of  the  loveliest  days  of  the 
loveliest  season  of  earth,  the  Spring  of  Palestine.  All 
nature  was  clothed  with  its  robe  of  genial  beauty;  the 
olives  on  the  higher  grounds  had  put  forth  their  first 


88  SALATHIEL. 

green,  and  with  every  slight  gust  that  swept  across  them, 
heaved  like  sheets  of  emerald;  the  birds  sang  in  a  thou- 
sand notes  from  every  bush;  the  sheep  and  camels  lay  in 
the  meadows  visibly  enjoying  the  sweet  air;  the  shepherds 
sat  gathered  together  on  the  side  of  some  gentle  eminence, 
talking,  or  listening  to  the  songs  of  the  maidens  who 
came  in  long  lines  to  the  fountains  below.  The  heavens 
gave  prospect  of  a  glorious  summer,  in  the  colors  shown 
only  to  the  Oriental  eye;  hues  so  brilliant  that  many  a 
traveller  stops  on  the  verge  of  the  valleys,  arrested,  in  his 
haste  homeward,  by  the  pomp  above.  All  was  the  loveli- 
ness and  joy  of  pastoral  life,  in  the  only  country  where  I 
ever  found  it  realized.  The  mind  is  to  be  medicined  by 
natural  loveliness,  and  mine  was  doubly  cheered.  To 
return  to  our  home  is  at  all  times  a  delight;  but  the  new 
conjuncture,  the  high  hopes  of  the  future,  and  the  con- 
sciousness that  a  career  of  the  most  distinguished  honor 
might  be  opening  before  my  steps,  made  this  return  more 
vivid  than  all  the  past;  and  when  I  reached  the  foot  of 
the  long  ascent  from  which  my  dwelling  was  visible,  I  felt 
an  impatience  beyond  restraint,  and  spurred  up  the 
hill  with  my  tidings.  How  fine  the  ear  becomes  when 
quickened  by  the  heart !  As  the  mountain  road,  now  more 
difficult  by  the  darkness  of  the  wild  pines  and  cedars  that 
crowded  the  summit,  compelled  me  to  slacken  my  pace,  I 
thought,  that  I  could  distinguish  the  household  voices, 
the  barking  of  my  hounds,  and  the  laugh  of  the  retainers 
and  peasantry,  that  during  the  summer  crowded  my  doors. 

I  pictured  the  dearer  group,  who  had  so  often  welcomed 
me.  The  early  and  cruel  loss  of  my  son  had  not  been 
repaired.  I  was  not  destined  to  be  the  father  of  a  race; 
but,  two  daughters  were  given  to  me,  and,  in  the  absence 
of  all  ambition,  they  were  more  than  a  recompense.  Sa- 
lome, the  elder,  was  now  approaching  to  womanhood ;  she 
had  the  dark  eyes  and  animated  beauty  of  her  mother; 
the  foot  of  the  antelope  was  not  lighter;  and  her  wreathed 
smile,  her  laugh  of  innocence,  and  buoyancy  of  soul,  for- 
bade sorrow  in  her  sight.  Oh,  what  I  afterwards  saw  that 
face  of  living  joy!  What  floods  of  sorrow  bathed  those 
cheeks  that  once  shamed  the  Persian  rose ! 

The  younger  was  scarcely  more  than  a  child ;  her  mind 
and  her  form  were  yet  equally  in  the  bud:  but  she  had 


SALATHIEL.  89 

an  eye  of  the  deepest  azure,  a  living  star;  and  even  in  her 
playfulness  there  was  an  elevation,  a  lofty  and  fervent 
spirit,  that  made  me  often  forget  her  years.  She  was  mis- 
tress of  music  almost  by  nature;  and  the  cadences  and 
rich  modulations  that  poured  from  her  harp,  under  fin- 
gers slight  and  feeble,  as  if  the  stalks  of  flowers  had  been 
flung  across  the  strings,  were  like  secrets  of  harmony  treas- 
ured for  her  touch  alone.  Our  prophets,  the  true  masters 
of  the  sublime,  were  her  rapturous  study.  Their  truths 
might  yet  be  veiled,  but  their  genius  blazed  broad  upon 
her  sensitive  soul. 

I  imaged  my  children  hastening  through  the  portal, 
twined  hand  in  hand  with  their  noble  mother,  still  in  the 
prime  of  matron  beauty,  to  give  me  welcome.  The  light 
thickened,  and  the  intricacy  of  the  forest  impeded  me.  At 
length,  wearied  by  the  delay,  I  sprang  from  my  horse,  left 
him  to  make  his  way  as  he  could,  and  tried  my  path 
through  a  thicket  which  crept  round  the  skirts  of  the 
forest.  As  I  struggled  onward,  listening  with  sharpened 
anxiety,  for  every  sound  of  home,  I  caught  a  sound,  like 
that  of  a  wild  beast  rustling  close  at  my  side.  The  thicket 
was  now  utterly  dark.  My  eyes  were  useless.  I  drew  my 
scimitar  and  plunged  it  straight  before  me.  The  blow 
was  instantly  followed  by  a  shriek.  Friend  or  enemy,  si- 
lence was  now  impossible,  and  I  demanded  who  was  nigh. 
I  was  answered  but  by  groans;  my  next  step  was  on  a 
human  body.  Shocked  and  startled,  I  yet  lifted  it  in  my 
arms,  and  bore  the  dying  man  to  an  open  space  where  the 
moonlight  glimmered.  To  my  unspeakable  horror,  he  was 
one  of  my  most  favored  attendants,  whom  I  had  left  in 
the  principal  charge  of  my  household.  I  tore  up  my 
mantle  to  stanch  his  wound;  but  he  fiercely  repelled  my 
hand.  In  an  undefined  dread  of  some  evil  to  my  family, 
I  commanded  him  to  speak,  if  but  one  word,  and  tell  me 
that  all  was  safe.  He  buried  his  face  in  his  mantle. 

In  the  whirlwind  of  my  thoughts,  I  flung  him  from  me, 
that  I  might  go  forward  and  know  the  good  or  evil ;  but 
he  clung  round  my  feet  and  exerted  his  last  breath  to 
implore  me  not  to  leave  him  to  die  alone.  "You  have 
killed  me,"  said  he,  in  broken  accents;  "but  it  was  only 
the  hand  of  the  Avenger.  I  was  corrupted  by  gold.  You 
have  terrible  enemies  among  the  leaders  of  Jerusalem:  a 


90  8ALATHIEL. 

desperate  deed  has  been  done."  My  suspense  amounted  to 
agony;  I  made  another  effort  to  cast  off  the  trammels  of 
the  assassin;  but  he  still  implored.  "Evil  things  were 
whispered  against  you.  I  was  told  that  you  had  been  con- 
victed of  a  horrible  crime."  The  sound  shot  through  my 
senses:  he  must  have  felt  the  trembling  of  my  frame;  for 
he,  for  the  first  time,  looked  upon  my  face.  "My  sight  is 
gone,"  groaned  he,  and  fell  back.  I  dared  not  meet  the 
glance  even  of  his  clouding  eyes.  "They  said  that  you 
were  condemned  to  an  unspeakable  punishment,  and  that 
the  man  who  swept  the  world  of  you  and  yours  did  God 
service.  In  my  hour  of  sin  the  tempter  met  me;  and  this 
day  from  sunrise  have  I  lurked  on  your  road,  to  strike  my 
benefactor  and  my  lord.  In  the  dark  I  lost  my  way  in 
the  thicket;  but  vengeance  found  me."  "My  wife,  my 
children,  are  they  safe?"  I  exclaimed.  He  quivered,  re- 
laxed his  hold,  and  uttering,  "Forgive!"  two  or  three 
times,  with  nervous  agony,  expired. 

A  single  bound  from  this  spot  of  death  placed  me  on  a 
point  of  rock,  from  which  I  had  often  gazed  on  my  little 
world  in  the  valley.  The  moon  was  now  bright  and  the 
view  unobstructed.  I  looked  down.  Were  my  eyes  dim? 
There  was  no  habitation  beneath  me:  the  grove,  the  gar- 
den, were  there,  sleeping  in  the  moonlight;  but  all  that 
had  the  semblance  of  life  was  gone!  I  rushed  down  and 
found  myself  among  ruins  and  ashes  still  hot.  I  called 
aloud,  in  terror  and  distraction  I  yelled  to  the  night,  but 
no  voice  answered  me.  My  foot  struck  upon  something 
in  the  grass;  it  was  a  sword,  black  with  recent  blood. 
There  had  been  burning,  plunder,  slaughter  here !  in  this 
treasure  house  of  my  heart;  desolation  had  been  busy  in 
the  centre  of  what  was  to  me  life — more  than  life.  I 
raved;  I  flew  through  the  fields;  I  rushed  back  to  con- 
vince myself  that  I  was  not  in  some  frightful  dream. 
What  I  endured  that  night  I  never  endured  again ;  that 
conflict  of  fear,  astonishment,  love  and  misery  could  be 
contained  but  once  even  in  my  bosom:  in  all  others  it 
must  have  been  death.  In  the  moment  of  reviving  hope 
I  had  been  smitten.  While  my  spirit  was  ascending  on 
the  wings  of  justified  ambition  and  sacred  love  of  coun- 
try I  had  been  dashed  down  to  earth,  a  desolate  and  a 
desperate  man, 


8ALATHIEL.  91 

What  I  did  thenceforth,  or  how  I  passed  through  that 
night,  I  know  not;  but  I  was  found  in  the  morning  with 
my  robe  fantastically  thrown  over  me  like  a  royal  mantle, 
and  a  fragment  of  half -burnt  wood  for  a  sceptre  in  my 
hand  performing  the  part  of  a  monarch,  giving  orders 
for  the  rebuilding  of  my  palace  and  marshalling  the  move- 
ments of  an  army  of  shrubs  and  weeds.  I  was  led  away 
.with  the  lofty  reluctance  of  a  captive  sovereign  to  the 
household  of  Eleazar. 

The  wrath  and  grief  of  my  kinsmen  were  without  bounds. 
Every  defile  of  the  mountains  was  searched,  every  strag- 
gler seized ;  messengers  were  despatched  across  the  frontier 
with  offers  of  ransom  to  the  chiefs  of  the  desert,  in  case 
my  family  should  have  escaped  the  sword.  Threats  of 
severe  retaliation  were  used  by  the  Roman  governor  of 
the  province ;  all  was  in  vain.  The  only  glimpse  of  intel- 
ligence was  from  a  shepherd,  who  two  nights  before  had 
seen  a  troop,  which  he  supposed  to  be  Arabs,  ride  swiftly 
by  the  gates  Kuriathim,  our  nearest  city;  but  this  in- 
telligence only  added  to  the  misfortune.  The  habits  of 
those  robbers  were  proverbially  savage;  they  lived  by  the 
torch  and  the  sword;  they  slaughtered  the  men  without 
mercy;  the  females  they  generally  sold  into  a  returnless 
captivity.  To  leave  no  trace  of  their  route,  they  slaugh- 
tered the  captives  whom  they  could  not  carry  through 
their  hurried  marches.  To  leave  no  trace  of  what  they 
had  done,  they  burned  the  place  of  massacre.  But  this 
ruin  was  from  other  and  more  malignant  hands! 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

WHAT  I  might  have  suffered  in  the  agony  of  a  bereaved 
husband  and  father,  was  spared  me.  My  visitation  was  of 
another  kind;  dreadful,  yet  perhaps,  not  so  pre-eminently 
wretched,  nor  so  deeply  striking  at  the  roots  of  life.  My 
brain  had  received  an  overwhelming  blow.  Imagination 
was  to  be  my  tyrant;  and  every  occurrence  of  life,  every 
aspect  of  human  being,  every  variety  of  nature,  day  and 
night,  sunshine  and  storm,  made  a  portion  of  its  fearful 
empire.  What  is  insanity,  but  a  more  vivid  and  terrible 
dream?  Jt  has  the  dream-like  tumult  of  events,  the 


92  SALATHIEL. 

rapidity  of  transit,  the  quick  invention,  the  utter  disre- 
gard of  place  and  time.  The  difference  lies  in  its  in- 
tensity. The  madman  is  awake;  and  the  open  eye  admin- 
isters a  horrid  reality  to  the  fantastic  vision.  The  vigor 
of  the  senses  gives  a  living  and  resistless  strength  to  the 
vagueness  of  the  fancy;  it  compels  together  the  fleeting 
mists  of  the  mind,  and  embodies  them  into  shapes  of 
deadly  power. 

I  was  mad !  yet  by  degrees  all  my  madness  was  not  pain- 
ful. Books,  my  old  delight,  still  lulled  my  mind.  I 
turned  the  pages  of  some  volume;  then  fancy  waved  her 
wand,  and  built  upon  its  contents  a  world  of  adventure. 
Every  language  appeared  to  open  its  treasures  to  me.  I 
roved  through  all  lands — I  saw  all  the  eminent  for  rank 
or  genius — I  drank  of  the  fountains  of  poetry — I  ad- 
dressed listening  senates,  and  heard  the  air  echo  with  ap- 
plause. Wit,  beauty,  talent,  laid  their  inestimable  tributes 
at  my  feet.  I  was  exalted  to  the  highest  triumphs  of 
mind ;  and  then  came  my  fate ; — in  the  midst  of  my  glory 
came  a  cloud,  and  I  was  miserable!  This  bitter  sense  of 
defeat  was  characteristic  of  my  visions.  Be  the  cup 
ever  so  sweet,  it  had  a  poison  drop  at  bottom. 

The  history  of  my  country  was  most  frequent  on  my 
mind.  I  imagined  myself  the  great  King  of  Babylon. 
From  the  superb  architecture  of  those  palaces,  in  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  forgot  that  he  was  but  man,  I  issued  my 
mandates  to  a  hundred  monarchs.  I  saw  the  satraps  of 
the  East  bow  their  jewelled  necks  before  my  throne.  I 
rode  at  the  head  of  countless  armies,  Lord  of  Asia,  and 
prospective  Conqueror  of  all  the  realms  that  saw  the  sun. 
In  the  swellings  of  my  haughty  soul  I  exclaimed,  like 
him,  "Is  not  this  the  Great  Babylon  that  I  have  built?" 
and  like  him  in  the  very  uttering  of  the  words,  I  was 
cast  out,  humbled  to  the  grass  of  the  field,  hideous,  brutal, 
and  wretched 

I  was  Belshazzar.  I  sat  in  the  halls  of  glory.  I 
heard  the  harps  of  minstrels,  the  voice  of  singing  men  and 
singing  women.  The  banquet  was  before  me;  I  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  trophies  of  irresistible  conquest.  Beauty, 
flattery,  splendor,  the  delight  of  the  senses,  the  keener 
feast  of  vanity,  the  rich  anticipation  of  triumph  measure- 
less and  endless,  made  me  all  but  a  god.  %I  put  the  pro- 


8ALAT3IEL.  93 

f aned  cup  of  the  temple  to  my  lips.  Thunder  pealed :  the 
serene  sky,  the  only  canopy  worthy  of  my  banquet  and 
my  throne,  was  sheeted  over  with  lightning.  I  swallowed 
the  wine — it  was  poison  and  fire  in  my  veins.  The  gigantic 
hand  came  forth,  and  wrote  upon  the  wall 

The  moon,  the  ancient  mistress  of  the  diseased  mind, 
strongly  exerted  her  spells  on  mine.  I  loved  her  light ;  but 
it  was  only  when  it  mingled  softly  with  the  shadows  of 
the  forest  and  the  landscape.  I  welcomed  her  return  from 
darkness,  as  the  coming  of  some  guardian  genius  to  shed 
at  once  beauty  and  healing  on  its  path.  Darkness  was  to 
me  a  source  of  terror;  daylight  overwhelmed  me:  but  the 
gentle  splendor  of  the  crescent  had  a  dewy  influence  on 
my  faculties.  I  exposed  my  feverish  forehead  to  her 
beams,  as  if  to  bathe  it  in  celestial  balm.  I  felt  in  her 
gradual  increase,  an  increase  of  the  power  to  soothe  and 
console.  This  indulgence  grew  into  a  kind  of  visionary 
passion.  I  saw  in  the  crescent,  as  it  sailed  up  the  aBther,  a 
galley  crowded  with  forms  of  surpassing  loveliness,  faces 
that  bent  down  and  smiled  upon  me,  and  hands  that  show- 
ered treasures,  to  be  collected  by  mine  alone.  But,  excess 
even  of  her  light  always  disturbed  me.  From  the  full 
splendor  of  the  moon,  there  was  no  escape;  the  rays  smote 
upon  me  with  merciless  infliction;  I  fled  to  the  woods  as 
a  hunted  deer;  a  thousand  shafts  of  light  penetrated  the 
shade.  I  hid  myself  in  the  depths  of  my  chamber ;  flames 
of  lambent  silver,  curling  and  darting  in  forms  innumer- 
able, shot  round  my  couch.  Upon  the  inequalities  of  the 
ground,  or  the  waves  of  the  fountain  and  the  river,  ser- 
pents of  the  most  inimitable  lustre,  yet  of  the  most  deadly 
poison,  coiled  and  sprang  after  me  with  a  rapidity  that 
mocked  human  feet.  If  I  dared  to  glance  upwards,  I  be- 
held a  menacing  visage  distending  to  an  immeasurable 
magnitude,  and  ready  to  pour  down  wrath ;  or  an  orb  with 
its  mountains  and  oceans  swinging  loose  through  the 
heaven,  and  rolling  down  upon  my  solitary  brow. 

But,  those  were  my  hours  of  comparative  happiness.  I 
had  visions  of  unspeakable  terror;  flights  through  regions 
of  space,  that  left  earth  and  the  sun  incalculable  millions 
of  miles  behind;  flights  ceaseless,  hopeless — still  hurrying 
onward  with  more  than  winged  speed  through  worlds  on 
worlds,  and  still  enduring ;  the  heart  sickening  and  wither- 


94  &ALATHIEL. 

ing  with  a  consciousensss  of  being  swept  beyond  the 
bounds  of  living  things,  and  of  being  doomed  to  this 
flight,  forever. 

Those  trials  changed  into  every  shape  of  desperation. 

I  was  driven  out  to  sea  in  a  bark  that  let  in  every  wave. 
I  struggled  to  reach  the  land — I  tore  my  sinews  with 
toil — I  saw  the  trees,  the  shore,  the  hills,  sink  in  slow,  yet 
sure  succession — I  felt  in  the  hands  of  an  invisible  power, 
bent  on  my  undoing.  The  storm  subsided,  the  sun  shone, 
the  ocean  was  without  a  surge.  Still  I  struggled;  with 
the  strength  of  despair  I  toiled  to  regain  the  land — to  re- 
tard the  viewless  force  that  was  perpetually  urging  me 
further  from  existence.  I  began  to  suffer  thirst  and 
hunger.  They  grew  to  pain,  to  torture,  to  madness.  I  felt 
as  if  molten  lead  were  poured  down  my  throat.  I  put  my 
arm  to  my  mouth,  and  shuddering,  quenched  my  thirst  in 
my  own  veins.  It  returned  instantly,  with  a  more  fiery 
sting.  There  was  nothing  in  the  elements  to  give  me  hope 
— to  draw  off  thought  from  my  own  fate — to  deaden  the 
venomed  sensibilities  that  quivered  through  every  fibre. 
The  wind  slept — the  sky  was  cloudless — the  sea  smooth  as 
glass:  not  a  distant  sail — not  a  wandering  bird — not  a 
springing  fish — not  even  a  floating  weed,  broke  the  ter- 
rible monotony.  The  sun  did  not  pass  down  the  horizon. 
Al  above  me  was  unvaried,  motionless  sky — all  around  me, 
unvaried,  motionless  ocean.  I  alone  moved — still  urged 
further  from  the  chance  of  life;  still  undergoing  new  ac- 
cessions of  agony  that  made  the  past  trivial.  I  tasted  the 
water  beside  me :  it  added  fire  to  fire.  I  convulsively  darted 
out  my  withered  hands,  as  if  they  could  have  drawn  down 
the  rain,  or  grasped  the  dew.  I  withered  piecemeal,  yet 
with  a  continuing  consciousness  in  every  fragment  of  my 
frame ! 

My  visitation  changed. 

I  wandered  at  midnight  through  a  country  of  moun- 
tains. Worn  out  with  fatigue,  I  lay  down  upon  a  rock. 
I  found  it  heave  under  me.  I  heard  a  thunder-peal.  A 
sudden  blaze  kindled  the  sky.  Bewildered  and  stunned,  I 
started  to  my  feet.  The  mountains  were  on  flame;  a  hun- 
dred mouths  poured  down  torrents  of  liquid  fire ;  they 
came  shooting  in  sulphurous  cataracts  down  the  chasms. 
The  forests  burned  before  them  like  a  garment — the  rocks 


BALATHIEL.  95 

melted — the  rivers  flew  up  in  sheets  of  vapor — the  valleys 
were  basins  of  glowing  ore — the  clouds  of  smoke  and  ashes 
gathered  over  my  head  in  a  solid  vault  of  gloom,  sullenly 
illuminated  by  the  conflagration  below — the  land  was  a 
cavern  of  fire.  In  terror  inconceivable,  I  ran,  I  bounded, 
I  plunged  down  declivities,  I  swam  rivers:  still,  the  fiery 
torrents  hunted  my  steps,  as  if  they  had  been  commis- 
sioned against  Hie  alone.  I  felt  them  gathering  speed  on 
me;  when  I  bounded,  the  spot  from  which  I  sprang  was 
on  flame  before  I  alighted  on  the  ground.  I  climbed  a 
promontory  with  an  effort  that  exhausted  my  last  nerve. 
The  fatal  lava  swept  round  its  foot;  and,  in  another  in- 
stant must  encircle  me.  I  ran  along  the  edge  of  a  precipice 
that  made  the  brain  turn;  the  fire  chased  me  from  pin- 
nacle to  pinnacle.  I  clung  to  the  weeds  and  trunks  of 
trees  on  its  sides,  and,  in  dread  of  being  dashed  to  pieces, 
tremblingly  let  myself  down  the  wall  of  perpendicular 
rock.  Breathless  and  dying  at  the  bottom  of  the  descent,  I 
glanced  upwards;  the  flame  of  the  thicket  on  the  brow 
showed  me  my  pursuer.  I  saw  the  rapid  swelling  of  the 
molten  tide.  In  another  moment,  it  plunged  through 
the  air  in  a  white  column,  the  valley  was  instantly  an  ex- 
panse of  conflagration — every  spot  was  inundated  with  the 
blaze.  I  flew,  with  scorching  feet — with  every  sinew  of 
my  frame  parched  and  dried  of  its  substance — with  my 
eyes  blinded,  and  my  lungs  burned  up  by  the  suffocating 
fumes  that  rushed  before,  around,  and  above  me.  At 
length  my  limit  was  reached.  The  land  afforded  no  fur- 
ther room  for  flight.  I  stood  on  the  verge  of  the  ocean. 
Death  was  inevitable.  I  had  but  the  choice.  Before  me 
spread  the  world  of  waters,  sad,  dim,  fathomless,  intermina- 
ble; behind  me,  the  world,  of  flame.  By  a  last  desperate 
effort,  I  plunged  into  the  ocean.  The  indefatigable  lava 
rolled  on,  mass  on  mass,  like  armies  rushing  to  the  assault. 
The  billows  shrank  before  the  fiery  shock,  sheets  of  vapor 
rolled  up;  still  the  eruption  rolled  on,  and  the  returning 
billows  fought  against  it.  The  conflict  shook  the  land ;  the 
mountain  shore  crumbled  down;  the  sands  melted  and 
burned  vitreous;  the  atmosphere  discharged  scalding  tor- 
rents; the  winds,  shaken  from  their  balance,  raged  with 
the  violence  of  more  than  tempest.  Thunder  roared  in 
peals  that  shook  the  earth,  the  ocean  and  the  heavens. 


06  BALATH1EL. 

In  the  midst  of  all  I  lived,  toeced  like  a  grain  of  sand  in 
the  whirlwind. 

Strange  and  harassing  as  those  trials  of  my  mind  were, 
they  had  yet  contained  some  appeals  to  individual  energy, 
some  excitement  of  personal  powers,  that  produced  a  kind 
of  cheering  self-applause.  I  was  Prometheus  on  his  rock, 
chained  and  remediless,  yet  still  resisting  and  uncon- 
quered.  But  the  true  misery  was,  when  I  was  passive. 

I  strayed  through  an  Egyptian  city.  Buildings  num- 
berless, of  the  most  regal  design,  rose  round  me ;  the  walls 
were  covered  with  sculptures  of  extraordinary  richness — 
noble  statues  lined  the  public  ways — wealth  in  the  wildest 
profusion  was  visible  wherever  the  foot  trod.  Endless 
ranges  of  porphyry  and  alabaster  columns  glittered  in  the 
noon.  Superb  ascents  of  marble  steps  mounted  before 
me,  to  heights  that  strained  the  eye.  Arch  over  arch, 
studded  with  the  lustre  of  precious  stones,  climbed  until 
they  lay  like  rainbows  upon  the  sky.  Colossal  towers 
circled  with  successive  colonnades  of  dazzling  brightness 
ascended — airy  citadels,  looking  down  upon  earth,  and 
colored  with  the  infinite  dyes  and  lustres  of  the  clouds. 
But,  all  was  silence  in  this  scene  of  pomp.  There  was  no 
tread  of  human  being  heard  within  the  circuit  of  a  city, 
fit  for  more  than  man.  The  utter  extinction  of  all  that 
gives  the  idea  of  life  was  hideous ;  there  was  not  the  note 
of  a  passing  bird,  not  the  chirp  of  a  grasshopper.  I  in- 
stinctively shrank  from  the  sight  of  things  lovely  in  them- 
selves, yet  which  froze  my  mind  by  their  image  of  the 
tomb.  But  to  escape  was  impossible,  there  was  an  im- 
pression of  powerlessness  upon  me,  for  whose  melancholy 
I  can  find  no  words.  My  feet  were  chainless,  but  never 
fetter  clung  with  such  a  retarding  weight,  as  that  invisi- 
ble bond  by  which  I  was  fixed  to  the  spot.  Ages  on  agesj 
seemed  to  have  heavily  sunk  away,  and  still  I  stood,  bound 
by  the  same  manacle,  standing  on  the  same  spot,  looking 
on  the  same  objects.  To  this  I  would  have  preferred  the 
fiercest  extreme  of  suffering.  The  passion  for  change  is 
the  most  incapable  of  being  extinguished  or  eluded,  of  all 
that  dwell  within  the  heart  of  man. 

But,  a  change  at  length  came.  The  sun  decayed.  Twi- 
light fell,  shade  on  shade,  on  tower  and  column ;  until  total 
darkness  shrouded  the  scene  of  glory.  Yet,  as  if  a  new 


SALATHIEL.  97 

faculty  of  sight  were  given  to  me,  the  thickest  darkness 
did  not  blunt  the  eye.  I  still  saw  all  things — the  mi- 
nutest figures  of  the  architecture,  the  finest  carving  of  the 
airy  castles,  whose  height  was,  even  in  the  sunshine,  almost 
too  remote  for  vision.  Suddenly,  there  echoed  the  murmur 
of  many  voices,  the  trooping  of  many  feet;  the  colossal 
gates  opened,  and  a  procession  of  forms  innumerable  en- 
tered; they  were  of  every  period  of  life,  of  every  pursuit, 
of  every  rank,  of  every  country.  All  the  various  emblems 
of  station,  all  the  weapons  and  implements  of  mankind, 
all  costumes,  rich  and  strange,  civilized  and  savage;  all 
the  attributes  and  adjuncts  of  the  occupations  of  society 
were  in  that  mighty  train.  The  monarch,  sceptred  and 
crowned,  passed  on  his  throne;  the  soldier  reining  his 
charger;  the  philosopher  gazing  on  his  volume;  the  priest 
bearing  the  instruments  of  sacrifice.  It  was  the  triumph 
of  a  power  ruling  all  mankind;  but  ruling  them,  when 
their  world  has  passed  away — DEATH. 

While  I  gazed  in  breathless  awe,  I  found  myself  involved 
in  the  procession.  Eesistance  was  in  vain ;  I  was  conscious 
that  I  might  as  well  have  struggled  against  the  tides  of 
the  ocean,  or  thought  to  stop  the  revolution  of  the  globe. 
We  advanced  through  the  place  of  darkness  by  millions 
of  millions,  yet  without  crowding  the  majestic  avenue,  or 
reaching  its  close.  I  rapidly  recognized  a  multitude  of 
faces,  which  I  had  known,  from  the  models  and  memorials 
of  the  past  ages.  But  the  power  that  marshalled  them  had 
no  regard  to  time.  The  pale,  fixed  Asiatic  countenance  of 
Ninus  moved  beside  the  glowing  cheek  and  flashing  eye  of 
Alexander.  The  patriarch  followed  the  Caesar.  The  thou- 
sand years  were  as  one  day,  the  one  day  as  a  thousand 
years. 

Again,  the  whole  stately  train  suddenly  melted  upon 
the  eye,  and  I  was  alone,  in  tenfold  darkness — entombed. 
I  lay  in  the  sepulchre,  but  with  the  full  vividness  of  life, 
and  with  a  perfect  knowledge  that  there  it  was  my  doom 
to  lie  forever.  A  miraculous  foresight  gifted  me  with  the 
fearful  privilege  of  looking  into  the  most  remote  futurity. 
Ages  on  ages  unfolded  themselves,  with  al  their  wonders, 
to  tantalize  me.  I  saw  worlds  awake  from  chaos,  and  re- 
turn to  it  in  flood  and  flame.  I  saw  systems  swept  away 
like  the  sand.  The  universe  withered  with  years,  and 


98  SALATUIEL. 

rolled  up  like  the  parchment  scroll.  I  saw  new  regions 
of  space,  glowing  with  a  new  creation;  the  angelic  hier- 
archies rising  through  new  energies,  new  triumphs,  new 
orders  of  existence;  developments  of  power  and  mag- 
nificence, of  sublime  mercy  and  essential  glory,  too  high 
for  the  conception  of  mortal  faculties.  Yet  I  was  still  to 
be  entombed !  No  ray  of  light,  no  sound,  no  trace  of  ex- 
ternal being,  no  sympathy  of  flesh  or  spirit,  of  earth  or 
heaven  was  to  reach  me.  The  four  narrow  walls,  the  wind- 
ing-sheet, the  worm,  were  my  world !  I  seemed  to  lie 
thus,  for  periods  beyond  all  counting;  powerless  to  move 
a  limb;  the  sleepless,  conscious,  vivid  victim  of  misery  un- 
speakable— the  bondsman  of  the  sepulchre ! 

In  those  wanderings,  I  experienced  not  even  the  slightest 
recollection  of  the  cause,  which  had  so  sternly  shaken  my 
brain.  Wife,  children,  country,  were  a  blank.  Imagina- 
tion, that  strangest  and  most  imperious  of  our  faculties, 
whose  soaring  from  earth  to  heaven  may  be  among  the  in- 
dications of  power  beyond  the  grave,  disdains  to  linger  on 
the  realities  of  our  being.  It  delights  in  the  commanding, 
the  bold,  the  superb.  In  my  instance  it  had  the  wildness 
of  disease;  but  who  has  ever  felt  its  workings,  even  in  the 
dream  of  health,  without  wonder  at  its  passion  for  the 
richer  and  more  highly  relieved  remembrances;  its  singu- 
lar skill  in  throwing  together  the  loftier  portions  of  life 
and  nature,  to  the  total  disregard  of  the  level ;  its  subtlety 
in  the  seizure  of  the  circumstances  of  pain,  its  pointings 
and  sharpenings;  its  fabrication  of  adventure,  at  once  of 
the  most  regular  consecutiveness,  and  the  wildest  original- 
ity; and  all  characterized  by  the  same  spontaneous  swift- 
ness of  change,  and  illimitable  command  over  space  and 
time,  a  power  of  instant  flight  from  continent  to  conti- 
nent, and  from  world  to  world; — the  transit  that  would 
actually  fill  up  years  and  ages  the  work  of  a  moment ! — 
the  actual  moment  expanding  into  years  and  ages ! 

What  are  those  but  the  infant  attributes  of  the  dis- 
embodied spirit! — the  imperfect  developments  of  a  state 
of  being  to  which  time  and  space  are  as  nothing; — when 
man,  shaking  off  the  covering  of  the  grave,  shall  be  clothed 
with  the  might  of  angels! — the  splendid  denizen  of  In- 
finitude and  Eternity! 


8ALATBIEL.  99 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

AT  length,  the  past  returned  to  my  mind.  Dim  recol- 
lections, shadows  that  alternately  advanced  and  eluded 
me,  sketches  of  forms  and  events,  like  pictures  unfinished 
by  the  pencil,  began  to  lie  before  me,  yet,  colorless  and  un- 
defined. But,  day  by  day  the  outlines  grew  more  complete, 
the  figures  assumed  a  body;  they  lived — they  moved — 
the  uttered  voices;  and  while,  to  other  eyes  I  was  a  soli- 
tary and  hopeless  fugitive  from  human  converse,  to  my 
own  I  was  surrounded  with  a  circle  of  all  that  I  loved; 
yet,  with  a  continued  sense  of  privation,  a  mysterious  feel- 
ing of  something  imperfect  in  the  indulgence,  that  dashed 
my  cup  with  bitterness. 

With  the  increase  of  my  strength,  I  became  a  wanderer 
to  great  distances  among  the  mountains.  No  persuasion 
of  my  kinsmen  could  restrain  me  from  those  excursions. 
The  mildness  of  a  climate  in  which  the  population  sleep 
in  the  open  air,  and  the  abundance  of  fruits,  met  the  two 
chief  difficulties  of  travelling.  I  felt  an  irresistible  im- 
pulse to  penetrate  the  mountain  ranges,  that  rose  in  chains 
of  purple  and  azure  before  me.  With  the  artifice  of  the 
diseased  mind,  I  made  my  few  preparations  in  secret; 
and  with  but  scrip  and  staff,  marched  forth  to  tread  hill 
and  valley,  city  and  desert,  were  it  to  the  last  limit  of  the 
globe. 

Through  what  diversities  of  scene,  or  impediments  of 
road  I  long  passed,  no  memory  rests  upon  me.  The  same 
instinct  which  guides  the  bird,  led  me  to  the  fruit-tree  and 
the  stream,  taught  me  where  to  shelter  for  the  night,  and 
gave  me  sagacity  enough  for  the  avoidance  of  the  habitual 
dangers  of  a  route  seldom  tried  but  by  the  wolf  and  the 
robber.  But  my  frame,  gradually  invigorated  by  exercisa, 
bore  me  through  all;  and  I  scaled  the  chain  of  Libanus 
with  an  unwearied  foot.  There,  I  reached  the  skirts  of  a 
region  where  the  snow  scarcely  melts,  even  in  the  burning 
summer  of  Syria.  The  falling  of  the  leaf,  and  the  furious 
blasts  that  burst  through  the  ravines,  told  me  that  I  had 
spent  months  in  my  pilgrimage,  and  that  I  must  brave 
winter  on  its  throne.  Still  I  persevered.  I  felt  a  new 
excitement  in  the  new  difficulty  of  the  season ;  I  longed  to 
try  my  power  of  endurance  against  the  storm,  to  wrestle 


100  8ALATBIEL. 

with  the  whirlwind,  to  baffle  the  torrent.  The  very  sight 
of  the  snow,  as  it  began  to  sheet  the  sides  of  the  lower  hills, 
gave  me  a  vague  idea  of  a  brighter  realm  of  existence;  it 
united  the  pinnacles  with  the  clouds;  the  noble  promon- 
tories and  forest-covered  eminences  no  longer  rose  in  stern 
contrast  with  the  sky;  they  were  dipped  in  celestial  blue; 
they  wore  the  silvery  and  sparkling  lustre  of  the  morning 
skies;  they  blushed  in  the  effulgence  of  the  sunset,  with  as 
rich  a  crimson  as  the  cloud  that  crowned  them. 

But,  all  was  not  fantastic  vision.  From  the  summit  of 
one  of  those  hills  I  saw,  what  was  then  worth  a  pilgrimage 
through  half  the  world  to  see,  the  cedar  grove  of  Lebanon. 
After  a  day  of  unusual  fatigue  and  perplexity,  I  had  found 
my  path  blocked  up  by  a  perpendicular  pile  of  rock.  To 
all  but  myself,  the  difficulty  might  have  been  impractica- 
ble; but  my  habits  had  given  me  the  spring  and  sinew  of 
a  panther;  I  bounded  against  the  marble,  and,  after  long 
effort,  by  the  help  of  weeds,  and  scattered  roots  of  the  wild 
vines,  climbed  my  perilous  way  to  the  summit.  An  endless 
range  of  Syria  lay  beneath;  the  sea  and  the  wilderness 
gleamed  on  my  left  and  right;  and  a  rich  succession  of 
dells,  crowded  with  the  date,  the  olive,  and  the  grape,  in 
their  autumnal  dyes,  spread  out  before  me,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  in  a  land  whose  air  is  pure  as  crystal. 

A  sound  of  trumpets  and  wild  harmonies  arose,  and  I 
discovered,  at  an  almost  viewless  depth  below,  a  concourse 
of  people  moving  through  the  hollows  of  the  mountains. 
The  tendency  of  man  to  man  is  irresistible;  and  that  un- 
expected sight,  where  but  the  wild  beast  and  the  eagle  were 
to  have  been  my  companions,  gave  me  the  first  sensation  of 
pleasure  that  I  had  long  experienced.  Bounding  from 
rock  to  rock  with  a  hazardous  rapidity  which  arrested  the 
crowd  in  astonishment  and  alarm,  I  joined  them,  just  in 
time  to  see  the  shafts  and  slings  laid  down,  which  they  had 
prepared  for  my  coming,  in  the  uncertainty  whether  I  were 
a  wolf  or  the  leader  of  a  troop  of  mountain  robbers ! 

They  formed  one  of  the  many  caravans  which  annually 
gathered  from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  to  worship 
at  Lebanon.  The  homage  to  sacred  groves  had  been  trans- 
mitted from  the  earliest  antiquity,  and  was  universal  in  the 
realms  of  paganism.  To  the  Jew,  worship  on  the  hill  and 
under  the  tree  was  prohibited ;  but  the  forest  that  Solomon 


SALATHIEL.  101 

had  chosen,  the  trees  of  which  the  first  Temple  was  built, 
the  foliage  which  shaded  the  first  planters  of  the  earth, 
must  to  the  descendant  of  Abraham  be  full  of  reverent 
interest.  The  ground  was  scriptural ;  the  fiery  string  of 
the  prophet  Ezekiel  had  been  struck  to  its  praise;  the 
noblest  raptures  of  our  poets  celebrated  the  glory  of  Leba- 
non; the  names  of  the  surrounding  landscape  recalled 
lofty  and  lovely  memories;  the  vale  of  EDEN  led  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Cedars ! 

To  my  fellow-travellers,  traditions  tinged  by  the  fervid 
coloring  of  the  Oriental  fancy,  heightened  the  native  power 
of  the  spot.  On  the  summits  of  the  trees  were  said  to 
descend  at  appointed  times  those  ministering  spirits,  whose 
purpose  is  to  rectify  the  ways  of  man.  There  stooped  on 
the  wing  the  bearers  of  the  sword  against  the  evil  mon- 
archs;  there  brooded  the  angel  of  the  tempest;  there  the 
invisible  ruler  of  the  pestilence  blew  with  his  breath,  and 
nations  sickened;  there,  in  night  and  in  the  interval  of 
storms,  was  heard  the  trumpet  that,  before  kings  dreamed 
of  quarrel,  announced  the  collision  of  guilty  empires  for 
their  common  ruin.  The  violation  of  the  grove  was  sup- 
posed to  be  visited  with  the  most  inexorable  calamity;  the 
hand  that  cut  down  a  tree  for  any  ordinary  use,  withered 
from  the  body;  all  misfortunes  fell  upon  the  man;  his 
wealth  dissolved  away,  his  children  died  in  their  prime; 
if  life  was  suffered  to  linger  in  himself,  it  was  only  to 
perpetuate  the  warning  of  his  punishment.  Yet,  there 
was  prouder  distinction  mingled  with  those  stern  attri- 
butes. Above  the  hill  was  presumed  the  pagan  entrance  to 
the  skies.  Once  in  the  year,  the  celestial  gate  rolled  back 
on  its  golden  hinges,  to  sounds  surpassing  mortal  music; 
the  heavens  dropped  balm ;  the  prayer  offered  on  that  night 
reached  at  once  the  supreme  throne ;  the  tear  was  treasured 
in  the  volume  of  light;  and  the  worshipper  who  died  be- 
fore the  envious  coming  of  the  morn,  ascended  to  a  felicity, 
earned  by  others  only  through  the  tardy  trial  of  the  grave ! 
Even  the  river,  which  ran  round  the  mountain's  foot,  bore 
its  imaginary  virtue ;  its  water,  unpolluted  by  the  decays 
of  autumn,  or  the  turbidness  of  winter,  showed  the  pre- 
servative power  of  a  superior  spell:  it  was  entitled  the 
Holy  Stream;  and  sealed  vessels  of  it  were  sent  even  to 
India  and  Italy,  as  presents  of  health  and  sanctity  to 
kings,  worthy  of  kings. 


102  8ALATBIEL. 

When  we  entered  the  last  defile,  the  minstrels  and 
singers  of  the  caravan  commenced  a  p?ean.  Altars  fumed 
from  various  points  of  the  chasm  above;  and  the  Syrian 
priests  were  seen  in  their  robes  performing  the  empty  rites 
of  idolatry.  I  turned  away  from  this  perversion  of  human 
reason,  and  pressed  forward  through  the  lingering  multi- 
tude, until  the  forest  rose  in  its  majesty  before  me. 

My  step  was  now  checked  in  solemn  admiration.  I  savr 
the  earliest  products  of  the  earth — the  patriarchs  of  the 
vegetable  world.  The  first  generation  of  the  reviving  globe 
had  sat  beneath  these  green  and  lovely  arches;  the  final 
generation  was  to  sit  beneath  them.  No  roof  so  noble  ever 
rose  above  the  heads  of  monarchs,  though  it  were  covered 
with  gold  and  diamonds !  The  forest  had  been  long  im- 
paired in  its  extent  and  beauty  by  the  sacrilegious  hand  of 
war.  The  perpetual  conflicts  of  the  Syrian  and  Egyptian 
dynasties  had  laid  the  axe  to  it  with  remorseless  violation. 
It  once  spread  over  the  whole  range  of  the  mountains;  its 
diminished  strength  now,  like  the  relics  of  a  mighty  army, 
made  its  stand  among  the  central  fortresses  of  its  native 
region ;  and  there  majestically  bade  defiance  to  the  further 
assault  of  steel  and  fire.  The  forms  of  the  trees  seemed 
made  for  duration;  the  trunks  were  of  prodigious  thick- 
ness, smooth  and  round  as  pillars  of  marble;  some  rising 
to  a  great  height,  and  throwing  out  a  vast  level  roof  of 
foliage;  some  dividing  into  a  cluster  of  trunks,  and  with 
their  various  heights  of  branch  and  leaf,  making  a  suc- 
cession of  verdurous  caves;  some  propagating  themselves 
by  circles  of  young  cedars,  risen  where  the  fruit  had 
dropped  upon  the  ground:  the  whole  bearing  the  aspect 
of  a  colossal  temple  of  nature — the  shafted  column,  the 
deep  arch,  the  solid  buttress,  branching  off  into  the  richest 
caprices  of  Oriental  architecture,  the  solemn  roof,  high 
above,  pale,  yet  painted  by  the  strong  sunlight  through  the 
leaves  with  transparent  and  tesselated  dyes,  various  as  the 
colors  of  the  Indian  loom. 

In  the  monentary  feeling  of  awe,  and  of  wonder,  I  could 
comprehend,  why  paganism  loved  to  worship  under  the 
shade  of  forests ;  and  why  the  poets  of  paganism  filled  that 
shade  with  the  presence  of  deities.  The  airy  whisperings, 
the  deep  loneliness,  the  rich  twilight,  were  the  very  food  of 
mystery.  Even  the  forms  that  towered  before  the  eye; 


8ALATHIEL.  103 

those  ancient  trees,  the  survivors  of  the  general  law  of 
mortality,  gigantic,  hoary,  covered  with  their  weedy  robes, 
bowing  their  aged  heads  in  the  blast,  and  uttering  strange 
sounds  and  groanings  in  the  struggle,  gave  to  the  high- 
wrought  superstition  of  the  time,  the  images  of  things  un- 
earthly ;  the  oracle,  and  the  God !  Or,  was  this  impression 
but  the  obscure  revival  of  one  of  those  lovely  truths  that 
shone  upon  the  days  of  Paradise,  when  man  drew  knowl- 
edge from  its  fount  in  Nature;  and  all,  but  his  own  pas- 
sions, were  disclosed  to  the  first-born  of  creation? 

The  caravan  encamped  in  the  depth  of  the  valley,  and 
the  grove  was  soon  crowded  with  worshippers,  in  whose 
homage  I  could  take  no  share.  Fires  were  lighted  on  the 
large  stones,  which  had  for  ages  served  the  purpose  of 
altars ;  and  the  names  of  the  Syrian  idols  were  shouted  and 
sung  in  the  fierce  exultation  of  a  worship  but  slightly  puri- 
fied from  its  original  barbarism.  As  the  night  fell,  I  with- 
drew to  the  entrance  of  the  defile,  and  gave  a  last  glance 
at  Lebanon.  In  the  grove,  filled  with  fires,  and  echoing 
with  wild  music  and  dances  of  riot,  I  saw  the  emblem  of 
my  fallen  country;  the  holiness,  old  as  the  memory  of  na- 
tions, profaned ;  yet  the  existence  preserved,  and  still  to  be 
preserved:  Israel,  once  throned  upon  its  mountains,  now 
diminished  of  its  beauty;  to  be  yet  more  diminished;  but 
to  live,  when  all  else  perished ;  to  be  restored,  and  to  cover 
its  native  hills  again  with  glory.  I  buried  my  face  in  my 
robe,  and  throwing  myself  down  by  the  skirt  of  one  of  the 
tents,  gave  way  to  meditations,  sweet  and  bitter. 

I  heard  my  name  pronounced  !  I  listened ;  the  name  of 
my  wife  followed.  I  looked  to  the  sky,  to  the  forest,  to 
convince  me  that  this  was  no  mockery  of  the  diseased  mind. 
I  was  fully  awake.  I  lifted  up  the  corner  of  the  tent. 
Savage  figures  were  sitting  over  their  cups,  inflamed  into 
quarrel;  and,  in  the  midst  of  high  words  and  execrations, 
I  heard  their  story.  They  were  robbers  from  Mount 
Amanus;  come,  equally,  to  purify  their  hands  by  offering 
sacrifice  at  Lebanon,  and  to  recompense  themselves  for 
their  lost  time,  by  robbing  on  the  way.  The  quarrel  had 
arisen  from  the  proposal  of  one  of  them  to  extend  their  ex- 
pedition into  Judea,  a  proposal  which  he  sustained  by  men- 
tioning the  success  of  his  previous  enterprises.  My  name 
was  again  sent  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  I  found  that  it 


104  SALATHIEL. 

was  inscribed  on  some  jewel,  which  formed  a  part  of  his 
plunder.  The  thought  struck  me,  that  this  might  afford  a 
clue.  I  burst  into  the  tent,  and  demanded  tidings  of  my 
wife  and  children.  The  ruffians  started,  as  if  in  the  pres- 
ance  of  a  spectre.  "Where,"  I  repeated,  "are  my  family? 
I  am  Salathiel !"  "Safe  enough,"  said  the  foremost.  "Are 
they  alive?"  I  cried;  "lead  me  to  where  they  are,  and  you 
shall  have  whatever  ransom  you  desire."  The  ruffian  laughed. 
"Why,  as  for  ransom,  all  the  money  has  been  made  by 
them  that  is  likely  to  be  made  for  some  time;  unless  the 
Greek  that  bought  them  repents  of  his  bargain."  The 
speech  was  received  with  loud  laughter.  I  grew  furious. 
"Villains,  you  have  murdered  them.  Tell  me  the  whole — 
show  me  where  they  lie,  or  I  will  deliver  you  up  to  the 
chief  of  the  caravan  as  robbers  and  murderers."  They 
were  appalled;  with  a  single  stride  I  was  at  the  throat  of 
the  leading  ruffian,  and  seized  the  jewel :  it  was  my  bridal 
present  to  Miriam !  My  hand  trembled,  my  eyes  grew  dim 
at  the  glance.  But,  in  the  next  moment,  I  found  myself 
pinioned,  a  gag  forced  into  my  mouth,  a  cloak  flung  over 
me ;  and  heard  the  discussion — whether  I  was  to  be  stabbed 
on  the  spot,  left  to  die  of  famine,  or  have  my  tongue  cut 
out,  and  thus  unfitted  for  telling  secrets,  be  turned  to  gain, 
and  sold? 

But  this  was  not  to  be  my  lot.  The  quarrel  of  the 
banditti  increased  with  their  wine ;  blows  were  given ;  the 
solitary  lamp  was  thrown  down  in  the  conflict;  it  caught 
some  combustible  matter;  and  the  tent  was  in  a  blaze.  By 
a  violent  exertion  I  loosened  the  cords  from  my  arms,  and 
in  the  confusion  fled  unseen.  The  fire  spread;  and  my 
last  glance  at  the  valley  showed  the  encampment  turned 
into  a  sheet  of  fire.  Alone,  and  exhausted  with  deadly 
fatigue,  I  had  yet  but  one  thought,  that  of  seeking  my 
family  through  the  world.  I  wandered  on,  through  the 
vast  range  of  wild  country  that  guards  Syria  on  the  side  of 
the  desert.  I  at  length  reached  the  foot  of  Mount  Arnaiuis, 
traversed  the  chain,  saw  from  it  the  interminable  plains  of 
Asia  Minor,  the  desert  of  Aleppo,  the  shores  of  Tripoli; 
and  was  then  left  only  to  choose  in  which  I  should  again 
commence  my  hopeless  pilgrimage. 

There  is  something  in  great  distress  of  mind,  that  throws 
a  strange  protection  round  the  sullerer.  I  passed  the 


8ALATHIEL.  105 

Roman  guards  unquestioned — the  robber  left  me  without 
inquiring,  whether  I  was  worth  his  dagger.  The  wolves, 
driven  down  by  famine,  and  devouring  all  else  that  had 
life,  neglected  the  banquet  that  I  might  have  supplied. 
Yet  I  shrank  from  none,  but  marched  on  through  city, 
cave,  and  forest.  But,  one  evening  the  sky  was  loaded 
with  a  tempest  that  drove  even  me  to  seek  for  shelter.  I 
found  it  in  one  of  the  caverns,  that  so  often  scare  the 
mariner's  eye,  on  the  iron-bound  shore  of  Cilicia. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  cavern  I  listlessly  gazed  on  the 
lightnings,  that  disclosed  at  every  explosion  the  sea  rolling 
in  foaming  ridges  before  the  gale.  In  the  intervals  of  the 
gusts,  I  heard,  to  my  surprise,  the  murmur  of  many  voices, 
apparently  in  prayer,  close  beside  me.  But  all  my  interest 
was  suddenly  fixed  on  the  sea,  by  the  sight  of  a  large  war- 
galley  running  before  the  wind.  She  had  neither  sail  nor 
oar.  Her  masts  were  gone;  and  but  for  the  crowd  of 
people  on  her  deck,  whose  distracted  attitudes  I  could  clear- 
ly see  by  the  flashes,  she  looked  a  floating  tomb. 

To  warn  the  galley  of  the  nearness  of  the  shore,  I  gath- 
ered the  brushwood  beside  me,  and  set  it  on  fire.  A  shout 
from  the  crew  told  that  my  signal  was  understood;  and  I 
rushed  down  the  bed  of  a  stream  that  fretted  its  way 
through  the  precipice.  Before  I  reached  the  shore,  I  saw 
various  fires  blazing  above,  and  many  figures  hurrying 
down,  on  a  purpose  like  my  own.  We  had  not  arrived  too 
soon.  The  galley,  after  desperate  efforts  to  keep  the  sea, 
had  run  for  an  inlet  of  the  rocks,  and  was  embayed ;  surge 
on  surge,  each  higher  than  the  one  before,  now  rolled  over 
the  ill-fated  vessel,  and  each  swept  some  portion  of  her 
crew  into  the  deep.  We  rushed  into  the  waves  and  had  suc- 
ceeded in  drawing  many  to  shore,  when  a  broader  burnt, 
the  concentrated  force  of  the  tempest,  thundered  on  the 
galley;  she  was  broken  into  splinters.  Stunned  and  half 
suffocated  with  the  surge,  I  grasped,  in  the  mere  instinct  of 
self -preservation,  at  whatever  was  nearest;  and,  through 
infinite  hazard,  reached  the  shore,  with  a  body  in  my  arms. 
Need  I  tell  my  terror,  anxiety,  hope,  and  joy,  when  I  found 
that  this  being,  whom  I  saw  at  length  breathing,  moving, 
pronouncing  my  name,  falling  on  my  neck,  was  Miriam ! 

My  daughters,  too,  were  rescued.  The  nearness  of  the 
shore,  saved  the  crew,  who,  until  they  saw  the  fire  on  the 


106  BALATHIEL. 

rocks,  had  given  themselves  up  to  despair.  The  chance  of 
help  led  them  to  steer  close  in  land,  and  I  was  congratu- 
lated as  the  general  preserver.  Miriam's  story  was  brief. 
Our  dwelling  had  been  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  robbers. 
The  household  was  surprised  in  their  sleep.  Resistance 
was  vain ;  the  rest  was  plunder  and  captivity.  The  robbers, 
fearful  of  pursuit,  took  the  road  to  the  mountains  at  full 
speed.  My  wife  and  daughters  were  treated  with  unusual 
care,  lest  their  beauty  should  be  injured,  and  thus  their 
value  in  the  slave-market  of  Tripoli  impaired.  As  the 
robber  told  me ;  they  had  been  purchased  by  a  merchant  of 
Cyprus,  and  by  him  conveyed  to  his  island,  to  be  sold  to 
some  more  opulent  master.  There  they  were  redeemed,  by 
an  act  of  equal  generosity  and  valor,  and  were  returning 
to  Judea,  when  they  were  overtaken  by  the  storm. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

WHEN  the  first  tumult  of  our  spirits  was  passed  I  had 
leisure  to  see  what  changes  the  interval  had  made  in  faces 
so  loved.  Miriam's  betrayed  the  hours  of  distress  that 
she  must  have  passed,  but  her  noble  style  of  beauty,  the 
emanation  of  a  noble  mind,  was  as  conspicuous  as  ever. 
I  even  thought,  when  her  large  eye  fell  on  me  from  time 
to  time,  that  it  shone  with  a  loftier  intelligence,  as  if 
misfortune  had  raised  its  vision  above  the  things  of  our 
trivial  world.  My  daughters'  forms  had  matured,  but 
Salome,  the  elder,  wore  a  portion  of  her  mother's  look; 
her  laughing  glance  still  beamed,  yet  she  was  often  lost 
in  meditation,  and  the  rapid  changes  of  her  cheek,  from 
the  deepest  crimson  to  the  paleness  of  an  autumnal  leaf, 
alarmed  me  with  menaces  of  early  decay.  Esther,  too, 
had  undergone  her  revolution.  But  it  was  of  the  bright- 
est texture.  The  seas,  the  skies,  the  mountains  of  Greece, 
filled  her  glowing  spirit  with  images  of  new  life.  She 
had  listened  with  boundless  delight  to  the  traditions  of 
that  most  brillant  of  all  people;  the  works  of  the  pencil 
and  the  chisel  had  met  her  eye  in  a  profuseness  and  per- 
fection that  she  had  never  contemplated  before;  her  harp 
echoed  to  names  of  romantic  valor  and  proud  patriot- 
ism; and  as  I  gazed  on  her  in  those  hours  when,  in  the 


SALATHIEL.  10? 

feeling  that  she  was  unobserved,  she  gave  way  to  the 
rich  impulses  of  her  soul,  I  thought  alternately  of  the 
prophetess  and  of  the  muse. 

The  shipwreck  converted  the  solitary  shore  into  a  little 
village ;  the  sailors  collected  the  fragments  of  the  vessel, 
and  formed  them  into  huts;  the  caves  that  ran  along  the 
level  of  the  sands,  supplied  habitations  of  themselves ; 
and  by  the  assistance  of  those  dwellers  on  the  precipice, 
who  had  so  unexpectedly  started  to  light,  the  first  dif- 
ficulties of  a  wild  coast  were  sufficiently  combated.  The 
bustling  activity  of  the  Greek  mariners,  and  the  adroit- 
ness with  which  they  availed  themselves  of  all  contriv- 
ances for  passing  the  heavy  hour,  their  sleights  of  hand, 
sports  and  dances,  their  recitations  of  popular  poems,  and 
their  boat  songs,  kept  the  spot  in  continual  animation. 

This  was  my  first  contact  with  the  actual  people,  and 
I  acknowledged  their  right  to  have  been  distinguished 
among  the  most  showy  disturbers  of  mankind.  The  evil 
of  the  character,  too,  was  displayed  without  mucli 
trouble  of  disguise.  They  habitually  gamed,  till  they 
had  no  better  stake  than  the  fragments  of  their  own  cloth- 
ing; but  they  would  game  for  a  shell,  for  a  stone  that 
they  picked  up  on  the  sands,  for  anything.  They  quarrelled 
with  as  perfect  facility  as  they  gamed:  the  knife  was  out 
quick  as  lightning;  but  to  do  them  justice,  their  wrath 
was  as  brief.  The  combatants  embraced  at  a  word,  danced, 
kissed  and  wept;  then  drank,  gamed,  quarrelled,  and  were 
sworn  brothers  again.  But  this  was  Greece  in  its  lowest 
rank. 

Constantius,  the  commander  of  the  galley,  was  a  speci- 
men of  the  land  which  produced  a  Plato  and  a  Pericles. 
When  I  first  saw  him  led  to  me  by  Miriam  as  the  cham- 
pion, who  had  restored  her  and  her  children  to  happiness, 
I  saw  virtue  and  manliness  of  the  highest  order  in  his 
features.  He  was  in  his  prime,  but  a  scar  across  his  fore- 
head, and  the  severities  of  naval  life,  had  given  early  se- 
riousness to  his  countenance.  But  his  conversation  had 
the  full  spirit  of  the  springtime  of  life.  It  was  incom- 
parably various,  and  animated;  altogether  free  from  pro- 
fessional pedantry,  it  had  the  interest  that  belongs  to  pro- 
fessional feelings.  Military  adventure,  striking  traits  of 
warlike  intelligence,  the  composition  of  the  fleets  and  ar- 


108  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

mies  of  the  various  states  that  fought  under  the  wing  of 
the  Roman  eagle,  were  topics  on  which  his  fire  was  ex- 
haustless.  On  those  I  listened  to  him  with  the  strong 
sympathy  of  one  to  whom  war  must  henceforth  be  the 
grand  pursuit ;  war  for  national  freedom ;  war  purified  of 
its  evil  by  the  most  illustrious  cause  that  ever  unsheathed 
the  sword. 

But,  Constantius  had  conversation  for  us  all.  His  in- 
tercourse with  the  ruling  lands  of  the  earth  gave  him  a 
copious  store  of  recollections,  picturesque  and  strange. 
Esther  combated  and  questioned  the  traveller.  Salome 
listened  to  the  warrior — listened  and  loved.  He  had  high- 
er topics,  of  which  I  was  yet  to  hear.  In  the  inhabitants 
of  the  precipice,  he  found  a  little  colony  of  his  country- 
men, fugitive  Christians,  driven  out  by  persecution,  to 
make  their  home  in  the  wilderness  of  nature.  The  long 
range  of  caverns  which  perforated  the  rock,  gave  them  a 
roof.  The  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  occasional  visit  of 
a  bark  sent  by  their  concealed  friends,  supplied  the  nec- 
essaries of  life,  and  there  they  awaited  the  close  of  that 
ferocious  tyranny  which  at  length  roused  the  world  against 
Nero;  or  awaited  the  close  of  all  suffering  in  the  grave. 
A  succession  of  storms  now  rendered  travelling  impossible, 
and  detained  us  among  those  hermits  for  some  days.  I 
found  them  intelligent,  and,  in  general,  men  of  the  higher 
ranks  of  knowledge  and  condition.  Some  were  of  cele- 
brated families,  and  had  left  behind  them  opulence  and 
authority.  A  few  were  peasants.  But  misfortune,  and, 
.^till  more,  principle,  extinguished  all  that  was  abrupt  in 
the  inequality  of  ranks,  without  leaving  license  in  its  stead. 
Jew  as  I  was,  and  steadily  bound  to  the  customs  of  my 
country,  I  yet  did  honor  to  the  patience,  the  humility  and 
the  devotedness  of  those  exiled  men.  I  even  once  attended 
their  worship  on  the  first  day  of  the  week;  assured  that 
the  abomination  of  idols  was  not  to  be  found  there,  and 
that  I  should  hear  nothing  insulting  to  the  name  of  Israel. 

The  ceremonial  was  simple.  Those  who  had  witnessed 
the  heaven-commanded  magnificence  of  the  Temple,  might 
smile  at  the  bareness  of  walls  of  rock,  figured  only  with 
the  wild  herbage;  or  those  who  had  seen  the  extravagant 
and  complicated  rights  of  paganism,  might  scorn  the  few 
and  obvious  forms  of  the  homage.  But,  there  was  the 


8ALATHIEL.  109 

Spirit  of  strong  prayer — the  breathing  of  the  heart — the 
unanswerable  sincerity.  Every  violence  of  the  mere  ani- 
mal frame  was  unknown.  I  saw  no  pagan  convulsion — no 
fierceness  of  outcry  and  gesture — not  even  the  vehement 
solemnity  of  the  Jew.  All  was  calm;  tears  stole  down, 
but  they  stole  in  silence;  knees  were  bowed,  but  there  was 
no  prostration ;  prayers,  fervent  and  lofty,  were  poured 
forth,  but  it  was  in  accents  uttered  less  from  the  lip  than 
from  the  soul — appeals  of  hallowed  confidence,  as  to  a 
Being  who  was  sure  to  hear,  the  voice  of  children  to  a 
Father ! 

At  length  the  storms  cleared  away,  and  the  sky  wore 
the  native  azure  of  the  climate.  A  messenger  despatched 
to  Cyprus  returned  with  a  vessel  for  the  embarkation  of 
the  Greeks.  Camels  and  mules  were  procured  from  the 
neighboring  country  for  our  journey,  and  the  morning  was 
fixed  on  which  we  were  to  separate.  Yet,  with  so  much 
reason  for  joy,  few  resolutions  could  have  been  received 
with  less  favor.  Constantius  almost  shunned  society,  or 
shared  in  it  with  a  silence  and  depression  that  made  his 
philosophy  more  than  questionable.  Miriam  was  engaged 
in  long  conferences  with  Salome,  from  which  they  both 
came  sad.  Esther  was  thus  my  chief  companion,  and  she 
talked  of  the  shore,  the  sea,  and  even  of  the  tempest,  with 
heightened  interest.  The  Greeks,  sailor  and  soldier  alike, 
loved  too  well  the  romantic  ease  and  careless  adventure 
of  the  place,  to  look  with  complacency  on  the  little  vessel 
in  which  they  were  to  be  borne  once  more  into  the  land 
of  restraint.  The  fugitive  colony  were  not  the  slowest  in 
their  regrets.  They  had  been  deeply  prepared  for  human 
vicissitude,  and  had  humbled  themselves  to  all  things ;  yet, 
such  is  the  strong  and  natural  connection  of  man  with 
man,  that  they  lamented  the  solitude  to  which  they  must 
again  be  left,  like  the  commencement  of  a  new  exile. 

There  are  few  things  more  singular  than  the  blindness 
which,  in  matters  of  the  highest  importance  to  ourselves, 
often  hides  the  truth  that  is  as  plain  as  noon  to  all  other 
eyes.  The  cause  which  had  deprived  Constantius  of  his 
eloquence,  and  Salome  of  her  animation,  was  obvious  to 
every  one  but  me.  Nor  was  the  mystery  yet  to  be  dis- 
closed to  my  tardy  knowledge.  I  had  strayed  through 
the  cliffs,  as  was  my  custom  after  the  heat  of  the  day, 


HO  8ALATB1EL. 

and  was  taking  a  last  look  at  the  sea,  from  the  edge  of 
the  precipice.  The  sands  far  below  me  were  covered  with 
preparations  for  the  voyage,  which,  like  our  journey,  was 
to  commence  with  the  rising  sun.  The  little  vessel  lay,  a 
glittering  toy,  at  anchor,  with  her  threadlike  streamers 
playing  in  the  breeze.  The  sailors  were  fishing,  preparing 
their  evening  meal,  heaving  water  and  provisions  down  the 
rocks,  or  enjoying  themselves  over  flagons  of  Syrian  wine 
round  their  fires ;  all  was  the  activity  of  a  seaport ;  but  from 
the  height  on  which  I  stood,  all  was  but  the  activity  of  a 
mole-hill.  "And  is  it  of  such  materials,"  mused  I,  "that 
ambition  is  made?  is  it  to  command,  to  be  gazed  on,  to  be 
shouted  after  by  such  mites  and  atoms  as  these,  that  life 
is  exhausted  in  watching  and  weariness;  that  our  true  en- 
joyments are  sacrificed;  that  the  present  and  the  future 
are  equally  cast  from  us ;  that  the  hand  is  dipped  in  blood, 
and  the  earth  desolated  ?  What  must  Alexander's  triumph 
have  looked,  to  one  who  saw  it  from  the  towers  of  Babylon  ? 
a  triumph  of  emmets !"  I  smiled  at  the  moral  of  three 
hundred  feet  of  precipice. 

A  step  beside  me  put  my  philosophy  to  flight.  My  wife 
stood  there;  and  never  saw  I  even  her  beauty  more 
beautiful.  The  exertion  of  the  ascent  had  colored  her 
cheek;  the  breeze  had  scattered  her  raven  locks  across  a 
forehead  of  the  purest  white;  her  lip  wore  the  smiles  so 
long  absent;  and  there  was  altogether  an  air  of  hope  and 
joy  in  her  countenance,  that  made  me  instinctively  ask  of 
what  good  news  she  was  the  bearer.  Without  a  word  she 
sat  down  beside  me,  and  pressed  my  hand  between  hers; 
she  fixed  her  eyes  on  mine,  tried  to  speak,  and,  failing, 
fell  on  my  neck  and  burst  into  tears.  Alarmed  at  her 
sobs,  and  the  wild  beating  of  her  heart,  I  was  about  to 
rise  for  assistance,  when  she  detained  me,  and  the  smile  re- 
turned; she  bared  her  forehead  to  the  breeze,  and,  recov- 
ering, unburdened  her  soul. 

"How  many  billows,"  said  she,  gazing  on  the  sea,  "will 
roll  between  that  little  bark  and  this  shore  to-morrow ! 
There  is  always  something  melancholy  in  parting.  Yet,  if 
that  vessel  could  feel,  with  what  delight  would  she  not 
wing  her  way  to  Cyprus,  lovely  Cyprus !" 

I  was  surprised !  "Miriam !  this  from  you  ?  Can  you 
regret  the  place  of  paganism— the  land  of  your  capitivity  ?" 


SAL  AT  til  EL.  ilx 

"No,"  was  the  answer,  with  a  look  of  lofty  truth;  "I 
abhorred  the  guilty  profanations  of  the  pagan;  and  who 
can  love  i".  e  dungeon  ?  Even  were  Cyprus  a  paradise,  I 
should  have  felt  unhappy  in  the  separation  from  my  coun- 
try and  from  you.  Yet,  those  alone  who  have  seen  the 
matchless  loveliness  of  the  island — the  perpetual  anima- 
tion of  life  in  a  climate  and  in  the  midst  of  scenes  made 
for  happiness — can  know  the  sacrifice  that  must  be  made 
by  its  people  in  leaving  it,  and  leaving  it  perhaps  for- 


ever. 

urn 


The  crew  of  that  galley  are  not  to  be  tried  by  long 
exile.  In  two  days  at  furthest  they  will  anchor  in  their 
own  harbors,"  was  my  only  answer. 

"And  how  deeply  must  the  sacrifice  be  enhanced  by  the 
abandonment  of  rank,  wealth,  professional  honors!  and 
this  is  the  sacrifice  on  which  I  have  been  sent  to  consult 
my  husband." 

I  was  totally  at  a  loss  to  conceive  of  whom  she  spoke. 

"Our  friend — our  deliverer  from  captivity  or  death — 
the  generous  being,  who,  through  infinite  hazards,  restored 
your  wife  and  children  to  happiness  and  home " 

"Constantius  ?  impossible ! — at  the  very  age  of  ambi- 
tion, with  his  talents,  his  knowledge  of  life,  his  prospects 
of  distinction !" 

"Constantius  will  never  return  to  Cyprus  in  that  gal- 
ley— will  never  draw  sword  for  Eome  again — will  never 
quit  the  land  given  by  Heaven  to  our  fathers;  if  such  be 
the  will  of  Salathiel." 

"Strange !  But  his  motives  ?  He  is  superior  to  the 
fickleness  that  abandons  an  honorable  course  of  life  through 
the  pure  love  of  novelty,  or  is  he  weary  of  the  absurdities 
of  paganism  ?" 

"Thoroughly  weary — more  than  weary:  he  has  abjured 
them  forever  and  ever." 

"You  rejoice  me.  But  it  was  to  be  expected  from  his 
manly  mind.  You  have  brought  an  illustrious  convert, 
my  beloved !  and  if  your  captivity  has  done  this  it  was 
the  will  of  Heaven.  Constantius  shall  be  led  with  dis- 
tinction to  the  Temple,  and  be  one  of  ourselves.  Judea 
may  yet  require  such  men.  Our  holy  religion  may  exult 
in  such  conquests  from  the  darkness  of  the  idolatrous 
world." 


112  8ALATBIEL. 

The  voice  of  the  hermits  at  their  evening  prayer  now 
arose,  and  held  us  in  a  silence,  which  neither  seemed  in- 
clined to  break.  Many  thoughts  pressed  on  iny  mind;  the 
addition  to  our  circle,  of  a  man  whom  I  honored  and 
esteemed;  the  accession  of  a  practiced  soldier  to  our  cause; 
the  near  approach  of  the  hour  of  conflict;  the  precarious 
fate  of  those  I  loved,  in  the  great  convulsion  which  was  to 
rend  away  the  Roman  yoke,  or  leave  Judea  a  tomb.  I  ac- 
cidentally looked  up  and  saw  that  Miriam  had  been  as 
abstracted  as  myself.  But  war  and  policy  were  not  in 
the  contemplations  of  the  beaming  countenance;  nor  their 
words  on  the  lips  that  quivered  and  crimsoned  before  me. 
Her  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  sky,  and  she  was  in  evident 
prayer,  which  I  desired  not  to  disturb.  She  at  length 
caught  my  glance  and  blushed  like  one  detected;  but 
quickly  recovering  said,  in  a  tone  never  to  be  forgotten, 
"My  husband !  my  lord !  my  love !  would  that  I  dared  open 
my  whole  spirit  to  you!  would  that  you  could  read  for 
yourself  the  truths  written  in  my  heart !" 

"Miriam !" 

"This  is  no  reproach.  But  I  know  your  strength  of 
opinion;  your  passion  for  all  that  concerns  the  glory  of 
Israel;  your  right,  the  right  of  talents  and  character  to 
the  foremost  rank;  and  those  things  repel  me." 

"Speak  out  at  once.  We  can  have  no  concealments, 
Miriam ;  candor,  candor  in  all  things." 

"You  have  heard  the  prayers  of  those  exiles;  you  ac- 
knowledge their  acquirements  and  understandings;  they 
have  sacrificed  much,  everything — friends,  country,  the 
world.  Can  such  men  have  been  imposed  on?  Can  they 
have  imposed  on  themselves?  Is  it  possible  that  their 
sacrifices  could  have  been  made  for  a  fiction  ?" 

"Perhaps  not;  the  question  is  difficult.  We  are  strange- 
ly the  slaves  of  impulse.  Men  every  day  abandon  the  most 
obvious  good  for  the  most  palpable  follies.  Enthusiasm 
is  a  minor  madness." 

"But  are  those  exiles  enthusiasts?  They  are  grave  men, 
experienced  in  life;  their  language  is  totally  free  from 
extravagance;  they  reason  with  singular  clearness;  they 
live  with  the  most  striking  command  over  the  habits  of 
their  original  condition.  Greeks,  as  they  are,  you  see  no 
haste  of  temper,  you  hear  no  violence  of  language  among 


8ALATSIEL. 

them.  Once  idolaters,  they  shrink  from  the  thought  of 
idols.  Now  fugitive  and  persecuted,  they  pray  for  their 
persecutors;  sharing  the  lair  of  wild  beasts,  and  driven 
out  from  all  that  they  knew  and  loved,  they  utter  no  com- 
plaint— they  even  rejoice  in  their  calamity  and  offer  up 
praises  to  the  mercy  that  shut  the  gates  of  earth  upon 
their  steps,  only  to  open  the  gates  of  heaven." 

"I  am  no  persecutor,  Miriam.  Nay,  I  honor  the  self- 
denial,  as  I  doubt  not  the  sincerity  of  those  men.  But,  if 
they  have  thrown  off  a  portion  of  their  early  blindness, 
why  not  desire  the  full  illumination  ?  Why  linger  half  way 
between  falsehood  and  truth  ?  It  is  not,  as  you  know,  our 
custom  to  solicit  proselytes.  But  such  men  might  be  not 
unworthy  of  the  hope  of  Israel." 

"It  is  to  the  hope  of  Israel  that  they  have  come,  that 
they  cling,  that  they  look  up  for  a  recompense;  a  glorious 
recompense  for  their  sufferings." 

"Let  them  then  join  us  at  sunrise  and  come  to  our 
holy  city." 

"Salathiel,  the  time  is  declared  when  men  shall  wor- 
ship not  in  that  mountain  alone,  but  through  all  lands; 
when  the  yoke  of  our  law  shall  be  lightened,  and  the  weary 
shall  have  rest;  when  the  altar  shall  pass  away,  as  the  il- 
lustrious victim  has  passed;  and  the  wisdom  of  heaven 
shall  be  the  possession  of  all  mankind." 

I  looked  at  her  in  astonishment.  "Miriam,  this  from 
you !  from  a  daughter  of  the  blood  of  Jacob !  from  the 
wife  of  a  servant  of  the  Temple  !  Have  you  become  a  Chris- 
tian ?" 

"I  have  done  nothing  in  presumption.  I  have  prayed 
to  the  Source  of  light  that  he  would  enlighten  my  un- 
derstanding. I  have,  night  and  day,  examined  the  law 
and  the  prophets.  Bear  with  my  weakness,  Salathiel,  if  it 
be  proved  weakness.  But,  if  it  be  wisdom,  knowledge,  and 
truth,  I  implore  you  by  our  love,  by  the  higher  interests  of 
your  own  soul,  to  follow  my  example." 

It  was  impossible  to  answer  harshly  to  a  remonstrance 
expressed  with  the  overflowing  fondness  of  the  heart:  I 
could  only  remind  her  of  the  unchangeable  promises  made 
to  Judaism. 

"But,  it  is  of  those  promises  I  speak,"  urged  she;  "we 
have  seen  the  day  which  our  father  Abraham  longed  to 


114  8ALATBIEL. 

see;  that  mighty  Being,  the  Lord  of  eternity,  the  express 
image  of  the  glory  of  the  Invisible,  the  hope  of  the  pa- 
triarch, the  promise  of  the  prophet,  has  come."  I  was 
alarmed. 

"Yet  Israel  is  divided  and  enslaved,  torn  by  capricious 
tyranny,  and  hurrying  to  the  common  convulsions  of 
doomed  nations.  Is  this  your  triumphant  kingdom  of 
prophecy  ?" 

"Salathiel,  I  have  doubted  like  you,  but  I  have  been  at 
length  convinced,  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  prophets  them- 
selves. Have  they  not  declared  that  Israel  should  suffer, 
before  it  triumphed,  and  suffer  too  for  a  period  that  strikes 
the  mind  with  terror?  That  the  King  of  Israel  should 
be  excluded  from  his  kingdom;  nay,  take  upon  him  the 
form  of  a  servant;  nay,  die,  and  die  by  a  death  of  pain 
and  shame,  the  death  of  a  slave  and  criminal  ?" 

"It  is  so  written.  But  it  is  beyond  our  power  to  recon- 
cile." 

"Pray  then  for  the  power,  and  it  will  be  given  to  you. 
Ask  for  the  spirit  of  holy  intelligence,  and  it  will  en- 
lighten you.  Pride  is  the  crime  of  our  nation.  Humility 
would  take  the  veil  from  the  eye  of  our  people.  Salathiel, 
my  lord,  the  being  treasured  in  my  heart !  Read  the 
Scriptures.  I  have  prayed  for  you.  Eead " 

"But  how  can  the  promise  of  the  kingdom  be  denied? 
It  is  the  theme  first,  last  and  without  end,  of  all  the  in- 
spired masters  of  Israel.  What  splendor  and  reality  of 
history  was  ever  more  vivid  and  real  than  the  glorious 
promises  of  Isaiah  ?"  I  murmured. 

"Yet  what  force  and  minuteness  of  picturing  ever  ex- 
celled Isaiah's  description  of  the  lowliness,  the  obscurity, 
the  rejection,  the  agonies,  and  the  death,  of  the  Messiah? 
Why  shall  we  suppose  that  the  one  description  is  true,  and 
the  other  false?  Has  not  the  same  inspiration  given 
both?  Why  shall  we  conceive  that  the  Messiah  and  his 
kingdom  must  appear  together?  We  see  the  time  of  his 
first  coming  defined  to  a  year  by  our  great  prophet  Daniel. 
But  where  do  we  see  the  time  of  the  triumphant  kingdom 
defined?  Why  may  it  not  follow  at  a  distance  of  ages? 
We  know  that  we  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth,  and  in  our  flesh  shall  see  God.  Why  shall  not  the 
triumph  be  reserved  for  that  day  of  glory?  &*e  our  peo- 


SALATtitEL.  115 

pie  now  fit  to  be  a  nation  of  kings?  Or,  are  the  best  of 
us,  in  the  mortal  feebleness  of  our  nature,  fit  to  share  in 
a  triumph  in  which  angels  are  to  minister?  fit  dwellers  of 
a  city  from  which  error  and  evil  are  to  be  excluded;  in 
which  there  is  to  be  no  tear,  no  human  suffering,  no  re- 
membered bitterness;  'a,  city  whose  builder  and  maker 
is  God ;'  within  whose  walls  live  holiness,  power  and  virtue ; 
on  whose  throne  sits  the  Omnipotent !" 

Sensations  to  which  I  dared  not  give  utterance  op- 
pressed me;  my  crime,  my  fate,  rose  up  before  the  mental 
eye.  I  had  no  answer  to  this  admirable  woman.  Her 
pure  zeal  and  her  holiness  of  heart  touched  every  chord 
in  mine.  But  let  no  man  blame  my  stubbornness  until 
he  has  weighed  the  influence  of  feelings,  born  with  the 
people,  strengthened  by  their  history,  reinforced  by  mira- 
cle, and  authenticated  by  the  words  of  inspiration.  That 
Judaism  was  purity  itself  to  the  worship  and  morals  of 
the  pagan  world;  that  it  was  the  continued  object  of  a 
particular  Providence;  that  it  alone  possessed  the  revela- 
tions of  God;  were  facts  that  defied  doubt.  And  that 
those  high  distinctions  should  be  made  void,  and  the 
slavish  mind  of  paganism  be  admitted  into  our  privileges; 
still  more,  that  it  should  be  admitted,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  chosen  line,  seemed  to  me  a  conclusion  that  no  rea- 
soning could  substantiate,  a  fantastic  and  airy  fiction  to 
which  no  reasoning  could  be  applied. 

The  moon  ascended  in  serenity,  and  her  orb,  slightly 
tinged  by  the  many-colored  clouds  that  lay  upon  the  hori- 
zon, threw  a  faint  silver  upon  the  precipice.  The  sounds 
below  were  hushed;  the  moving  figures,  the  vessel,  the 
sea,  the  cliffs,  were  totally  veiled  in  purple  mist.  We 
could  not  have  been  more  alone  if  we  had  been  seated  on 
a  cloud;  and  the  beauty,  the  exalted  gesture,  and  the 
glowing  wisdom  of  the  being  before  me  were  like  those 
that  we  conceive  of  spirits  delegated  to  lead  the  disem- 
bodied mind  upwards  from  world  to  world.  A  sea  bird 
winging  its  way  above  our  heads  broke  the  reverie.  I  re- 
minded my  teacher  that  it  grew  late  and  our  absence  might 
produce  anxiety. 

"Salathiel,"  said  she,  with  mingled  fervor  and  soft- 
ness, "you  know  I  love  you;  never  was  heart  more  fondly 
bound  to  another  than  is  mine  to  you.  I  am  grateful  fox 


116  8ALATHIEL. 

your  permission  to  receive  Constantius  into  our  tribe. 
But  one  obligation  infinitely  dearer  you  can  confer  on  me — 
read  this  scroll."  Sbe  drew  from  her  bosom  a  letter 
written  to  his  church  by  one  of  the  Christian  leaders  in 
Asia.  "I  desire  not  to.  off  end  your  convictions,  nor  to 
hasten  you  into  a  rash  adoption  of  those  of  others.  But 
in  this  scroll  you  will  find  philosophy  without  its  pride, 
and  knowledge  without  its  guile;  you  will  find  more,  the 
disclosure  of  those  mysteries  which  have  so  long  perplexed 
our  people.  Read,  and  may  He  who  can  bring  wisdom  out 
of  the  lips  of  babes,  and  make  the  wisdom  of  the  wise  fool- 
ishness, shed  his  light  upon  the  generous  heart  of  my 
husband !" 

At  another  time  I  might  have  started  in  horror  from 
this  avowal  of  her  faith.  But  the  scene,  the  circumstances, 
an  unaccountable  internal  impression;  a  voice  of  the 
soul  prohibited  me.  I  took  her  trembling  hand,  and, 
without  a  word,  led  her  down  to  our  dwelling. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

No  tidings  sooner  make  themselves  known  than  those 
of  the  heart.  We  found  our  daughters  waiting  anxious- 
ly at  the  entrance  of  the  cave  which  had  been  fitted  up 
for  our  temporary  shelter.  Before  a  word  could  be  ex- 
changed a  glance  from  Miriam  told  the  success  of  her 
mission;  and  anxiety  was  turned  into  delight.  Esther 
danced  round  me  and  was  eloquent  in  her  gratitude.  Sa- 
lome shed  silent  tears,  and  when  I  attempted  to  wipe  them 
away  fell  fainting  into  my  arms.  We  spent  a  part  of  the 
night  in  the  open  air.  The  last  wine  and  fruits  of  our 
.store  were  brought  out:  the  Cypriot  exiles  came  down 
from  their  rocks ;  the  crew  of  the  galley,  already  on  board, 
danced,  sang  and  drank  to  the  success  of  the  voyage,  and 
it  was  not  till  the  moon,  our  only  lamp,  was  about  to  be 
extinguished  in  the  waters,  that  we  thought  of  closing 
our  final  night  on  the  Syrian  shore. 

We  travelled  along  the  coast  as  far  as  Berytus,  then, 
turning  to  the  eastward,  crossed  the  Libanus,  and  the 
mountain  country  that  branches  into  Upper  Galilee.  Our 
coming  had  been  long  announced,  and  we  found  Eleazar, 


SALATHIEL.  117 

Jubal,  and  our  chief  kinsmen  waiting  at  one  of  the  passes 
to  lead  us  home  in  triumph.  The  joy  of  our  tribe  was 
honest,  if  it  was  tumultuous;  and  many  a  shout  disturbed 
the  solitude  as  we  moved  along.  My  impatience  increased 
when  we  reached  the  well-known  hills  that  sheltered  what 
was  once  my  home.  Yet  I  remembered  too  keenly  the 
shock  of  seeing  its  desolation,  not  to  dread  the  first  sight 
of  the  spot,  and  rode  away  from  the  group  at  full  speed 
that  my  nervousness  might  have  time  to  subside  before 
their  arrival.  But  at  the  foot  of  the  last  ascent  I  drew  the 
rein.  Every  tree,  every  bush,  almost  every  stone  had  been 
familiar  to  me  in  my  wanderings;  and  were  now  painful 
memorials  of  the  long  malady  of  my  mind. 

Eleazar,  who  watched  me  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
journey  with  something  of  a  consciousness  of  my  thoughts, 
put  spurs  to  his  horse  and  found  me  standing,  pale  and 
palpitating.  "Come,"  said  he,  "we  must  not  alarm  Mir- 
iam by  thinking  too  much  of  the  past;  let  us  try  if  the 
top  of  the  hill  will  not  give  us  a  better  prospect  than  the 
bottom." 

I  shrank  from  the  attempt.  "No !"  said  I,  "the  horror 
that  the  prospect  once  gave  me  must  not  be  renewed. 
Let  us  change  the  route,  no  matter  how  far  round;  the 
sight  of  that  ruin  would  distract  me  to  the  last  hour  of 
my  life." 

He  only  smiled  in  reply,  and,  catching  my  bridle,  gal- 
loped forward.  A  few  seconds  placed  us  on  the  summit 
of  the  hill.  Could  I  believe  my  eyes !  All  below  was  as  if 
rapine  never  had  been  there.  The  gardens,  the  cattle,  the 
dwelling  lay  a  living  picture  under  the  eye.  "This  is 
miracle !"  I  exclaimed.  "No;  or  it  is  but  the  miracle  of  a 
little  activity  and  a  great  deal  of  good  will,"  was  the 
answer. 

"Your  kinsmen  did  this  at  the  time  when  you  were 
slumbering  with  the  wolf  and  bear  in  the  Libanus.  Na- 
ture did  her  part  in  covering  your  fields  and  gardens ;  and 
those  sheep  and  cattle  are  a  tribute  of  gratitude  from 
your  brother  for  the  preservation  of  his  life." 

Our  troop  now  ascended  the  height.  The  land  lay  be- 
neath them  in  the  luxuriance  of  summer.  They  were  ar- 
dent in  their  expressions  of  surprise  and  pleasure.  We 
rushed  down  the  defile  and  I  was  once  more  master  of  a 


118  8ALATHIEL. 

home.  Public  events  had  rapidly  ripened  in  my  absence. 
Popular  wrath  was  stimulated  by  increased  exaction.  Law 
was  more  palpably  perverted  into  insolence.  Order  was 
giving  way  on  all  sides.  The  .Roman  garrisons,  neglected 
and  ill  paid,  were  adopting  the  desperate  habits  of  the 
populace;  and  in  the  general  scorn  of  religion  and  right, 
the  country  was  becoming  a  horde  of  robbers.  The  ulti- 
mate causes  of  this  singular  degeneracy  might  be  remote, 
and  set  in  action  by  a  vengeance  above  man;  but  the  im- 
mediate were  plain  to  every  eye. 

The  general  principles  of  Home,  in  the  government  of 
her  conquests,  were  manly  and  wise.  When  the  soldier 
had  done  his  work — and  it  was  done  vigorously,  yet  with 
but  little  violence  beyond  that  which  was  essential  for 
complete  subjugation — the  sword  slept  as  an  instrument  of 
evil,  and  awoke  only  as  an  instrument  of  justice. 

The  barbaric  invasions  which  had  periodically  ravaged 
the  Eastern  empires,  even  in  their  day  of  power,  were 
repelled  with  a  terrible  vigor.  The  legions  left  the  desert 
covered  with  the  tribe  for  the  feast  of  the  vulture;  and 
showed  to  Europe  the  haughty  leaders  of  the  Tartar, 
Gothic  and  Arab  myriads  in  fetters,  dragging  wains,  dig- 
ging in  mines  or  cleansing  the  highways. 

If  peace  could  be  an  equivalent  for  freedom,  the  equiva- 
lent was  never  so  amply  secured.  The  world,  within 
this  iron  boundary,  flourished;  the  activity  and  talent  of 
man  were  urged  to  the  highest  pitch ;  the  conquered  coun- 
tries were  turned  from  wastes  and  forests  into  fertility; 
ports  were  dug  upon  naked  shores;  cities  swelled  from 
villages;  population  spread  over  the  soil  once  pestilential, 
and  breeding  only  the  weed  and  the  serpent.  The  sea  was 
covered  with  trade;  the  pirate  and  the  marauder  were 
unheard  of  or  hunted  down.  Commercial  enterprise  shot 
its  lines  and  communications  over  the  map  of  the  earth, 
and  regions  were  then  familiar  which  even  the  activity  of 
the  revived  ages  of  Europe  has  scarcely  made  known. 

Those  were  the  wonders  of  great  power  steadily  directed 
to  a  great  purpose.  General  coercion  was  the  simple  prin- 
ciple; and  the  only  talisman  of  a  Roman  Emperor  was 
the  chain,  except  where  it  was  casually  commuted  for  the 
sword :  the  universality  of  the  compression  atoned  for  half 
its  evil.  The  natural  impulse  of  man  is  to  improve- 


8ALATHIEL.  119 

merit ;  he  requires  only  security  from  rapine.  The  Koman 
supremacy  raised  round  him  an  impregnable  wall.  It 
was  the  true  government  for  an  era  when  the  habits  of 
reason  had  not  penetrated  the  general  human  mind.  Its 
chief  evil  was  in  its  restraint  of  those  nobler  and  loftier 
aspirations  of  genius  and  the  heart,  which  from  time  to 
time  raise  the  general  scale  of  mankind. 

Nothing  is  more  observable  than  the  decay  of  original 
literature,  of  the  finer  architecture,  and  of  philosophical 
invention  under  the  empire.  Even  military  genius,  the 
natural  product  of  a  system  that  lived  but  on  military 
fame,  disappeared:  the  brilliant  diversity  of  warlike  tal- 
ent that  shone  on  the  very  verge  of  the  succession  of  the 
Caesars,  sank,  like  falling  stars,  to  rise  no  more.  No  cap- 
tain was  again  to  display  the  splendid  conceptions  of  Pom- 
pey's  boundless  campaigns;  the  lavish  heroism  and  inex- 
haustible resource  of  Anthony;  or  the  mixture  of  un- 
daunted personal  enterprise  and  profound  tactic,  the 
statesmanlike  thought,  generous  ambition  and  high-minded 
pride  that  made  Caesar  the  very  emblem  of  Eome.  But 
the  imperial  power  had  the  operation  of  one  of  those  great 
laws  of  nature,  which  through  partial  evil  sustain  the 
earth — a  gravitating  principle,  which,  if  it  checked  the 
ascent  of  some  gifted  beings  beyond  the  dull  level  of  life, 
yet  kept  the  infinite  multitude  of  men  and  things  from 
flying  loose  beyond  all  utility  and  all  control. 

Yet,  it  was  only  for  a  time.  The  empire  was  but  the 
superstructure  of  the  republic,  a  richer,  more  luxuriant 
and  more  transitory  object  for  the  eye  of  the  world;  and 
the  storm  was  already  gathering  that  was  to  shake  it  to 
the  ground.  The  corruptions  of  the  palace  first  opened 
the  imperial  ruin.  They  soon  extended  through  every  de- 
partment of  the  state.  If  the  habitual  fears  of  the  tyrant, 
in  the  midst  of  a  headlong  populace,  could  scarcely  re- 
strain him  in  Rome,  what  must  be  the  excesses  of  his  min- 
ions where  no  fear  was  felt !  where  complaint  was  stifled 
by  the  danger!  and  where  tho  government  was  bought  by 
bribes,  to  be  replaced  only  by  licensed  rapine ! 

Under  Nero,  Judea  was  devoured  by  Roman  avarice. 
She  had  not  even  the  sad  consolation  of  owing  her  evils 
to  the  ravage  of  those  nobler  beasts  of  prey  in  human 
shape  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  other  provinces — s^e. 


120  8ALATHIEL. 

was  devoured  by  locusts.  The  polluted  palace  supplied 
her  governors — a  slave  lifted  into  office  by  a  fellow  slave ; 
a  pampered  profligate,  exhausted  by  the  expenses  of  the 
capital;  a  condemned  and  notorious  extortioner,  with  no 
other  spot  to  hide  his  head ;  were  the  gifts  of  Nero  to  my 
country.  Pilate,  Felix,  Festus,  Albinus,  Florus,  a  race 
more  profligate  and  cruel,  as  our  catastrophe  approached, 
tore  the  very  bowels  of  the  land.  Of  the  last  two,  it  was 
said  that  Albinus  should  have  been  grateful  to  Florus,  for 
proving  that  he  was  not  the  basest  of  mankind,  by  the 
evidence  that  a  baser  existed;  that  he  had  a  respect  for 
virtue,  by  his  condescending  to  commit  those  robberies 
in  private,  which  his  successor  committed  in  public;  and 
that  he  had  human  feeling,  by  his  abstaining  from  blood, 
where  he  could  gain  nothing  by  murder;  while  Florus 
disdained  alike  concealment  and  cause  and  slaughtered 
for  the  public  pleasure  of  the  sword ! 

A  number  of  partial  insurrections,  easily  suppressed, 
displayed  the  wrath  of  the  people,  and  indulged  the  cruelty 
of  the  procurator.  They  indulged  also  his  avarice.  De- 
feat was  always  followed  by  confiscation;  and  Florus  even 
boasted  that  he  desired  nothing  more  prosperous  than  an 
insurrection  in  every  village  of  Judea.  He  was  about  to  be 
gratified  before  he  had  prepared  himself  for  this  luxury ! 

A  menial  in  my  house  was  detected  with  letters  from  an 
agent  of  the  Koman  governor.  They  required  details  of 
my  habits  and  resources,  which  satisfied  me  that  I  was 
become  an  object  of  vengeance.  From  the  time  of  my 
return  I  had  seen  with  bitterness  of  soul  the  insults  to  my 
country.  I  had  summoned  my  friends  to  ascertain  what 
might  be  our  means  of  resistance,  and  found  them  as 
willing  and  devoted  as  became  men ;  but  our  resources,  for 
more  than  the  first  burst  of  popular  wrath,  the  seizure  of 
some  petty  Roman  garrison,  or  the  capture  of  a  convoy 
were  nothing.  The  jealousies  of  the  chief  men  of  the 
tribes,  the  terrors  of  Rome,  the  positions  of  the  Roman 
troops,  cutting  off  military  communication  between  the 
north  and  south  of  Judea,  made  the  attempt  hopeless,  and 
it  was  abandoned  for  the  time.  Even  those  letters  which 
marked  me  for  a  victim  made  no  change  in  my  determina- 
tion, that  if  I  could  not  escape  danger  by  individual 
means,  no  public  blood  should  be  laid  to  my  charge.  For 


SALATHIEL.  121 

a  few  months  all  was  tranquil;  the  habits  of  rural  life 
are  calculated  to  keep  depressing  thoughts  at  a  distance. 
My  wife  and  daughters  returned  to  their  graceful  pur- 
suits, with  the  added  pleasure  of  novelty,  after  so  long  a 
cessation.  I  hunted  through  the  hills  with  Constantius; 
or,  traversing  the  country  which  might  yet  be-  the  scene 
of  events,  availed  myself  of  the  knowledge  of  a  master  of 
the  whole  science  of  Koman  war. 

At  home  the  works  of  the  great  poets  of  the  west,  with 
whom  our  guest  had  made  us  familiar,  varied  the  hours; 
but  I  found  a  still  more  stirring  and  congenial  interest 
in  the  histories  of  Greek  valor  and  in  the  study  of  the 
mighty  minds  that  made  and  unmade  empires. 

With  the  touching  and  picturesque  narrative  of  Her- 
odotus in  my  hand,  I  pantingly  followed  the  adventures 
of  the  most  brilliant  of  nations.  I  fought  the  battle  with 
them  against  the  Persian;  I  saw  them  gathered  in  little 
startled  groups  on  the  hills,  or  flying  in  their  little  galleys 
from  island  to  island,  the  land  deserted,  the  sea  covered 
with  fugitives;  the  Persian  fleets  darkening  the  waters 
like  a  thunder-cloud ;  and  in  a  moment  all  changed !  The 
millions  of  Asia  scattered,  like  dust  before  the  wind — 
Greece  lifted  to  the  height  of  martial  glory,  and  com- 
mencing a  career  of  triumph  still  more  illustrious,  that 
triumph  of  the  mind,  in  which,  through  the  remotest 
vicissitudes  of  earth,  she  was  to  have  no  conqueror. 

I,  especially  and  passionately,  pursued  the  campaigns 
of  that  extraordinary  man  whose  valor,  vanity  and  fortune 
make  him  one  of  the  landmarks  of  human  nature.  In 
Alexander  I  delighted  in  tracing  the  native  form  of  the 
Greek  through  the  embroidered  robes  of  royalty  and  tri- 
umph. In  his  romantic  intrepidity  and  deliberate  science ; 
.his  alternations  of  profound  thought  and  fantastic  folly; 
the  passion  for  praise,  and  the  contempt  for  its  offerers; 
the  rash  temper  and  the  noble  magnanimity;  the  love  for 
the  arts,  and  the  thirst  for  that  perpetual  war  before 
which  they  fly;  the  philosophic  scorn  of  privation  and 
the  feeble  lapses  into  self-indulgence;  the  generous  fore- 
cast, which  peopled  deserts  and  founded  cities,  and  the 
giddy  and  fatal  neglect  which  left  his  diadem  to  be 
fought  for,  and  his  family  to  be  the  prey  of  rival  rebel- 
lions; I  saw  the  true  man  of  the  republic,  not  the  lord 


122  8ALATHIEL. 

of  the  rugged  hills  of  Macedon,  but  the  Athenian  of  the 
day  of  popular  splendor  and  folly,  with  only  the  difference 
of  the  sceptre. 

To  me,  those  studies  were  like  a  new  door  opened  into 
the  boundless  palace  of  human  nature.  I  felt  that  sense 
of  novelty,  vigor  and  fresh  life  that  the  frame  feels  in 
breathing  the  morning  air  over  the  landscape  of  a  new 
country.  It  was  a  voyage  on  an  unknown  sea,  where  every 
headland  administers  to  the  delight  of  curiosity.  In  this 
there  was  nothing  of  the  common  pedantry  of  the  schools. 
My  knowledge  of  life  had  hitherto  been  limited  by  my 
original  destination.  A  Jew  and  a  priest,  there  was  but 
one  solemn  avenue  through  which  I  was  to  see  the  glimpses 
of  the  external  world.  The  vista  was  now  opened  beyond 
all  limit:  visions  of  conquest,  of  honor  among  nations,  of 
praise  to  the  last  posterity,  clustered  round  my  head. 
There  were  times  when,  in  this  exultation,  even  my  doom 
was  forgotten.  The  momentary  oblivion  may  have  been 
permitted,  merely  to  blunt  the  edge  of  incurable  misfor- 
tune. I  was  permitted  at  intervals  to  recruit  the  strength, 
that  was  to  be  tried,  till  the  end  of  time. 

I  was  one  day  immersed  in  Polybius,  with  my  master  in 
soldiership  at  my  side,  guiding  me  by  his  living  com- 
ment through  the  wonders  of  the  Punic  campaigns,  when 
Eleazar  entered  with  a  look  that  implied  his  coming  on  a 
matter  of  importance.  Constantius  rose  to  withdraw. 
"No,"  said  my  brother,  "the  subject  of  my  mission  is  one 
that  should  not  be  concealed  from  the  preserver  of  our 
kindred.  It  may  be  one  of  happiness  to  us  all.  Salome 
is  arrived  at  the  age  when  the  daughters  of  Israel  marry. 
She  must  give  way  to  our  general  wish  and  play  the  matron 
at  last."  He  turned  with  a  smile  to  Constantius  and  asked 
his  assent  to  the  opinion;  he  received  no  answer.  The 
young  Greek  had  plunged  more  deeply  than  ever  into  the 
passage  of  the  Alps.  "And  who  is  the  suitor?"  I  in- 
quired. 

"One  worthy  of  her  and  you.  A  generous,  bold,  warm- 
hearted kinsman,  in  the  spring  of  life,  sufficiently  opulent, 
for  he  will  probably  be  my  heir,  prepared  to  honor  you, 
and,  I  believe,  long  and  deeply  attached  to  her." 

"Jubal!  There  is  not  a  man  in  our  tribe  to  whom  I 
would  more  gladly  give  her.  Let  my  friend  Jubal  come. 


SAL  ATE  I  EL.  1£3 

Congratulate  me,  Constantius ;  you  shall  now  at  last  see 
festivity  in  our  land,  in  scorn  of  the  Koman.  You  have 
seen  us  in  flight  and  captivity;  you  shall  now  witness 
some  of  the  happiness  that  was  in  Judah  before  we  knew 
the  flapping  of  an  Italian  banner;  and,  if  fortune  smile, 
shall  be,  when  Home  is  like  Babylon." 

Constantius  suddenly  rose  from  his  volume,  and,  thrust- 
ing it  within  the  folds  of  his  tunic,  was  leaving  the  apart- 
ment. "No,"  said  I,  "you  must  remain;  Miriam  and 
Salome  shall  be  sent  for  and  in  your  presence  the  con- 
tract signed." 

For  the  first  time  I  perceived  the  excessive  pallidness  of 
his  countenance,  and  asked  whether  I  had  not  trespassed 
too  much  on  his  patience  with  my  studies. 

His  only  reply  was,  "Is  there  no  liberty  of  choice  in 
the  marriages  of  Israel?  Will  you  decide  without  con- 
sulting her,  whom  this  contract  is  to  render  happy  or 
miserable,  while  she  lives?"  He  rushed  from  the  room. 

Miriam  came,  but  alone.  Her  daughter  had  wandered 
out  into  one  of  our  many  gardens.  She  received  Eleazar 
with  sisterly  fondness,  but  her  features  wore  the  air  of 
constraint.  She  heard  the  mission;  but  "she  had  no 
opinion  to  give  in  the  absence  of  Salome.  She  knew  too 
well  the  happiness  of  having  chosen  for  herself  to  wish 
to  force  the  consent  of  her  child.  Let  Salome  be  con- 
sulted." 

The  flourish  of  music  and  the  trampling  of  horses  broke 
up  our  reluctant  conference.  Jubal  was  already  come, 
with  a  crowd  of  his  friends.  We  hastened  to  receive  him 
at  the  porch,  and  he  bounded  into  the  court  on  his  richly- 
caparisoned  barb,  at  the  head  of  a  troop  in  festal  habili- 
ments. 

The  man  of  Israel  loved  pomp  of  dress  and  handsome 
steeds.  The  group  before  me  might  have  made  a  body- 
guard for  a  Persian  king.  Jubal  had  long  looked  on  my 
daughter  with  the  admiration  due  to  her  singular  beauty; 
it  was  the  custom  to  wed  within  our  tribe;  he  was  the  fa- 
vorite and  heir  of  her  uncle;  she  had  never  absolutely 
banished  him  from  her  presence;  and  in  the  buoyancy  of 
natural  spirits,  the  boldness  of  a  temperament  born  for  a 
soldier,  and  perhaps  in  the  allowable  consciousness  of  a 
showy  form,  he  had  admitted  none  of  the  perplexities  of 


124  SALATHIEL. 

a  trembling  lover.    Salome  was  at  length  announced,  and 
the  proposed  husband  was  left  to  plead  his  own  cause. 


CHAPTEE   XVII. 

WE  received  the  friends  of  our  intended  son  with  the  ac- 
customed hospitality ;  but  to  me  the  tumult  of  many  voices 
and  even  the  sight  of  a  crowd,  however  happy,  still  excited 
the  old  disturbances  of  a  shaken  mind. 

I  left  my  guests  to  the  care  of  Eleazar,  and  galloped  into 
the  fields,  to  gather  composure  from  the  air  of  fruits  and 
flowers.  A  homeward  glance  showed  me,  to  my  surprise, 
the  whole  troop  mounted,  and  in  another  moment,  at  speed 
across  the  hills.  I  hastened  back.  Miriam  met  me.  My 
kinsman  had  openly  disclaimed  my  alliance. 

Indignant  and  disappointed,  I  prepared  to  follow  him, 
and  demand  the  cause  of  this  insult.  As  I  passed  one  of 
the  pavilions,  I  heard  voices  within.  The  voices  were  low, 
and  I  could,  for  a  while,  catch  but  a  broken  sentence. 

"I  owed  it  to  him  not  to  deceive  his  partiality.  He 
offered  all  that  it  could  have  done  a  Jewish  maiden  honor 
to  receive: — his  heart,  hand  and  fortune." 

"And  you  rejected  them  all  ?"  said  the  answerer.  "Have 
you  no  regrets  for  the  lover — no  fears  of  the  father?" 

"For  the  lover  I  had  too  high  an  esteem  to  give  him  a 
promise  which  I  could  not  keep.  I  knew  his  generous 
nature.  I  told  him  at  once,  that  there  was  an  invincible 
obstacle !" 

"I  should  like  incomparably  to  know  what  that  obstacle 
could  be  ?"  said  the  answerer. 

The  speakers  were  Constantius  and  Salome.  Astonish- 
ment fixed  me  to  the  spot.  I  was  unable  to  move  a  step. 

The  natural  playfulness  «f  the  sweet  and  light-hearted 
girl  replied  "that  a  philosopher  ought  to  know  all  things, 
without  questioning." 

"But  there  is  much  in  the  world  that  defies  philosophy, 
my  fair  Salome ;  and  of  all  its  problems,  the  most  perplex- 
ing is  the  mind  of  woman ! — of  young,  lovely,  dangerous 
woman !" 

"Now,  Constantius,  you  abandon  the  philosopher,  and 
play  the  poet." 


SALATBIEL,  125 

"Yet  without  the  poet's  imagination.  No;  I  need 
picture  no  beauty  from  the  clouds — no  nymph  from  the 
fountains — no  loveliness  that  haunts  the  trees,  and  breathes 
more  than  mortal  melody  on  the  ear.  Salome !  my  muse  is 
before  me." 

"You  are  a  Greek,"  said  she,  after  a  slight  interval; 
"and  Greeks  are  privileged  to  talk — and  to  deceive." 

"Salome !  I  am  a  Greek  no  longer.  What  I  shall  yet 
be,  may  depend  upon  the  fairest  artist  that  ever  fashioned 
the  human  mind.  But  mine  are  not  the  words  of  inex- 
perience. I  am  on  this  day  five-and-twenty  years  old.  My 
life  has  led  me  into  all  that  is  various  in  the  intercourse 
of  earth.  I  have  seen  woman  in  her  beauty,  in  her  talent, 
in  her  art,  in  her  accomplishment ;  from  the  cottage  to  the 
throne — but  I  never  felt  her  real  power  before." 

"Which  am  I  to  believe — the  possible  or  the  impossible  ? 
A  soldier !  a  noble !  a  Greek !  and  of  all  Greeks,  one  of 
Cyprus !  the  offerer  of  your  eloquence  at  every  shrine, 
where  your  own  lovely  countrywomen  stood  on  the  altar ! — 
I,  too,  have  seen  the  world." 

"May  all  the  Graces  forbid  that  you  should  ever  see  it 
but  what  it  would  be  made  by  such  as  you; — a  place  of 
gentleness  and  harmony — a  place  of  fondness  and  inno- 
cence— an  elysium !" 

"Now,  you  are  farther  from  the  philosopher  than  ever; 
but — I  must  listen  no  more;  the  sun  is  taking  its  leave  of 
us,  and  blushing  its  last  through  the  vines  for  all  the  fine 
romance  that  it  has  heard  from  Constantius.  Farewell, 
philosophy." 

"Then  farewell,  philosophy,"  said  Constantius;  and 
caught  her  hand,  as  she  was  lightly  moving  from  the  pa- 
vilion. He  led  her  toward  the  casement.  "Then  farewell, 
philosophy,  my  sweet;  and  welcome  truth,  virtue  and 
nature.  I  loved  you  in  your  captivity ;  I  loved  you  in  your 
freedom;  on  the  sea,  on  the  shore,  in  the  desert,  in  your 
home,  I  loved  you.  In  life  I  will  love  you,  in  death  we 
shall  not  be  divided.  This  is  not  the  language  of  mere  ad- 
miration, the  rapture  of  a  fancy  dazzled  by  the  bright  eyes 
of  my  Salome.  It  is  the  language  of  reason,  of  sacred 
truth,  of  honor  bound  by  higher  than  human  bonds;  of 
fondness,  that  even  the  tomb  will  render  only  more  ardent 
and  sublime.  Here,  in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  I  pledge  an 
immortal  to  an  immortal." 


126  SALATHIEL. 

Astonishment  and  grief  alone  prevented  my  exclaiming 
aloud  against  this  bond  on  the  affections  of  my  child.  The 
marriage  of  the  Israelite  with  the  stranger  was  prohibited 
by  our  law ;  and  still  more  severely  prohibited  by  the  later 
ordinances  of  our  teachers.  But,  marriage  with  a  fugitive, 
an  alien,  a  son  of  the  idolater,  whose  proselytism  had  never 
been  avowed,  and  whose  skill  in  the  ways  of  the  world 
might  be  at  this  hour  undermining  the  peace,  or  the  faith 
of  my  whole  family — the  idea  was  tenfold  profanation !  I 
checked  myself,  only  to  have  complete  evidence. 

"But,"  said  my  daughter,  in  a  voice  mingled  with  many 
a  sigh,  "if  this  should  become  known  to  my  father,  and 
known  it  must  be — how  can  we  hope  for  his  consent? 
Now,  Constantius,  you  will  have  to  learn  what  it  is  to  deal 
with  our  nation.  We  have  prejudices,  lofty,  though 
blind — indissoluble,  though  fantastic.  My  father's  consent 
is  beyond  all  hope." 

"He  is  honorable — he  has  human  feeling — he  loves  you." 

"Fondly,  I  believe ;  and  I  must  not  thus  return  his  love : 
no,  though  my  happiness  were  to  be  the  forfeit,  I  must  not 
pain  his  heart  by  the  disobedience  of  his  child." 

"But  Salome,  my  sweet  Salome !  are  obstinacy  and  prej- 
udice to  be  obeyed,  against  the  understanding  and  the 
heart  ?  Can  a  father  counsel  his  child  to  a  crime ;  and 
would  it  not  be  one  to  give  your  faith  to  this  Jubal,  if  you 
could  not  love  him  ?" 

"I  have  decided  that  already.    Never  will  I  wed  Jubal." 

My  indignation  rose  to  its  height.  I  had  heard  my  child 
taught  to  rebel.  I  had  heard  myself  pronounced  the  slave 
of  prejudice.  But  the  open  declaration  that  my  authority 
was  to  be  to  my  child  a  law  no  more — let  loose  the  whole 
storm  of  my  soul.  I  rushed  forward;  Salome  uttered  a 
cry,  and  sank  senseless  upon  the  ground.  Constantius  i 
raised  her  up,  and  bore  her  to  a  vase,  from  which  he 
sprinkled  water  upon  her  forehead.  "Leave  her,"  I  ex- 
claimed ;  "better  for  her  to  remain  in  that  insensibility, 
better  to  be  dead  than  an  apostate.  Villain,  begone !  it  is 
only  in  scorn  that  a  father's  vengeance  suffers  you  to  live. 
Fly  from  this  house,  from  this  country.  Go,  traitor,  and 
let  me  never  see  you  more."  I  tore  the  fainting  girl  from 
his  arms.  He  made  no  resistance,  and  no  reply.  Salome 
recovered,  with  a  gush  of  tears,  and  feebly  pronounced  his 


8ALATHIEL. 

name.  "I  am  with  you  still,  my  love/'  he  pronounced  in 
an  unaltered  tone.  She  looked  up,  and,  as  if  she  had  then 
first  seen  me,  sprang  forward  with  a  look  of  terror.  "Go," 
said  I,  "go  to  your  chamber,  weak  girl,  and  on  your  knees 
atone  for  your  disobedience.  But  no,  it  is  impossible ;  you 
cannot  have  been  so  guilty:  this  Greek — this  foreign 
bringer-in  of  fables — this  smooth  intruder  on  the  peace  of 
families,  cannot  have  so  triumphed  over  your  understand- 
ing." 

"I  have  been  rash,  sir,"  said  Constantius  loftily;  "I 
may  have  been  unwise,  too,  in  my  language;  but  I  have 
been  no  deceiver.  Not  for  the  wealth  of  kings — not  even 
for  the  more  precious  treasure  of  the  heart  I  love — would 
I  sully  my  lips  with  a  falsehood." 

"Begone !"  cried  I ;  "I  am  insulted  by  your  presence. 
Go,  and  pervert  others — hypocrite ;  or  rather,  take  my  con- 
temptuous forgiveness,  and  repent,  in  sackcloth  and  ashes, 
the  basest  crime  of  the  basest  mind.  Come,  daughter,  and 
leave  the  baffled  idolater  to  think  of  his  crime."  I  was 
leading  her  away — she  hesitated;  and  I  cast  her  from  me. 
Constantius  with  his  cheek  burning,  and  his  eye  flashing, 
approached  her.  My  taunts  had  at  length  roused  him. 

"Now,  Salome,"  said  he,  haughtily  glancing  on  me,  "in- 
jured as  I  am,  I  disclaim  an  idle  deference  for  an  authority 
used  only  to  give  pain.  You  are  my  betrothed;  you  shall 
be  my  bride.  Let  us  go  forth,  and  try  our  chance  together 
through  the  world." 

She  was  silent,  and  wept  only  more  violently.  But,  with 
one  hand  covering  her  face,  she  repelled  him  with  the 
other. 

"Then  you  will  be  the  wife  of  Jubal  ?"  said  he. 

"Never !"  she  firmly  pronounced.  "So  help  me  Heaven, 
never !" 

"Retire,  girl,"  I  exclaimed;  "and  weep  tears  of  blood 
for  your  rebellion.  Go,  stranger — ingrate — deceiver — and 
never  darken  my  threshold  more.  Ay,  now  I  see  the  cause 
of  my  brave  kinsman's  departure.  He  was  circumvented. 
A  wilier  tongue  was  here  before  him.  He  disdained  to 
reveal  the  daughter's  folly  to  the  insulted  father.  But  this 
shall  not  avail  either  of  you.  He  shall  return." 

Salome  cast  up  an  imploring  glance,  and  sank  upon  her 
knees  before  me.  Constantius  advanced  to  her;  but  I 


128  8ALATHIEL. 

bounded  between  them — my  dagger  was  drawn.  "Touch 
her,  and  you  die."  He  smiled  scornfully,  and  approached 
to  raise  her  from  the  ground. 

"Give  that  wretched  child  up  to  me  this  moment,"  I  ex- 
claimed in  fury;  "or  may  the  bitterness  of  a  father's 
curse  be  on  her  head  !"  He  staggered  back ;  then  stooping 
his  lips  upon  her  forehead,  gave  her  to  me,  and  strode 
from  the  pavilion. 

I  flew  to  the  house  of  Eleazar.  I  found  him  anxious 
and  agitated.  Calm  as  his  usual  manner  was,  the  late 
transaction  had  left  its  traces  on  his  manner  and  counte- 
nance. Jubal  was  in  the  apartment,  which  he  traversed 
backwards  and  forwards  in  high  indignation.  He  made 
no  return  to  my  salute,  but  by  stopping  short,  and  gazing 
full  on  me,  with  a  look  of  mingled  anger  and  surprise. 

"Jubal,"  said  I,  "kinsman,  we  must  be  friends."  I 
held  out  my  hand,  which  he  took  with  no  fervent  pressure. 
"I  am  here  only  to  explain  this  idle  offence." 

"It  requires  no  explanation,"  interrupted  Jubal,  sternly. 
"I,  and  I  alone,  am  to  blame — if  there  be  any  one  to  blame 
in  the  matter.  The  offer  may  have  been  hasty,  or  unwel- 
come, or  unpardonable,  from  one  like  me,  still  without 
rank  in  the  tribe;  it  may  have  been  fit  that  I  should  be 
haughtily  rejected  by  the  family  of  the  descendant  of 
Aaron;  but,"  said  he,  pressing  his  strong  hand  upon  his 
throat,  as  if  to  keep  down  a  burst  of  passion,  "the  subject 
is  at  an  end;  now  and  forever  at  an  end."  He  recom- 
menced his  striding  through  the  chamber. 

"Let  us  hear  all,  my  friend,"  said  I.  "I  know  that 
Salome  thinks  highly  of  your  spirit,  and  your  heart.  Was 
there  any  palliation  offered?  Did  she  disclose  any  secret 
reason  for  a  conduct  so  opposite  to  her  natural  regard  for 
you;  and  which  she  must  feel  so  offensive  to  me?  But, 
insult  from  family,  impossible !" 

"Hear,  then.  I  had  not  alighted  from  my  horse,  when 
I  saw  displeasure  written  in  the  face  of  every  female  in 
your  household.  From  the  very  handmaids  up  to  their 
mistress,  they  had,  with  the  instinct  of  woman,  discovered 
my  object;  and,  with  the  usual  deliberation  of  the  sex, 
had  made  up  their  minds,  without  hearing  a  syllable. 
Your  wife  received  me,  it  is  true,  with  the  grace  that  be- 
longs to  her  above  women;  but  she  was  visibly  cold.  JYty 


SALATHIEL. 

kinswoman  Esther  absolutely  shrank  from  me,  and  scorned 
to  return  a  word.  Salome  fled.  As  for  the  attendants, 
they  frowned  and  muttered  upon  me  in  all  directions,  with 
the  most  candid  wrath  possible.  In  short,  I  could  not  have 
fared  worse  had  I  been  a  Eoman,  come  to  take  possession; 
or  an  Arab,  riding  up  to  rifle  every  soul  in  the  house." 

"Ominous  enough!"  said  Eleazar,  with  his  grave  smile. 
"The  opinions  of  the  sex  are  irresistible.  With  half  my 
knowledge  of  them,  Jubal,  you  would  have  turned  your 
horse's  head  homewards  at  once;  and  given  up  your  hopes 
of  a  bride,  at  least  till  the  next  day,  or  the  next  hour,  or 
whatever  may  be  the  usual  time  for  the  sex's  change  of 
mind.  Cheer  up,  kinsman;  caparison  yourself  in  another 
dress,  let  time  do  its  work — ride  over  to  Salathiel's  dwell- 
ing to-morrow,  and  find  a  smile  for  every  frown  of  to- 
day." 

"But,  you  saw  Salome !"  said  I.  "I  am  impatient  to 
hear  how  she  could  have  ventured  to  offend.  Could  she 
dare  to  refuse  my  brother's  request,  without  a  reason?" 

"No;  her  conduct  was  altogether  without  disguise.  She 
first  tried  to  laugh  me  out  of  my  purpose,  then  argued, 
then  wept;  and,  finally,  told  me  that  our  alliance  was  im- 
possible." 

"Hash  girl !  but  she  has  been  led  into  this  folly  by  others ; 
yet  the  chief  folly  was  my  own.  Ay,  my  eyes  were  dim, 
where  a  mole  would  have  seen.  I  suffered  a  showy,  plausi- 
ble villain  to  remain  under  my  roof,  till  he  has,  by  what 
arts  I  know  not,  wiled  away  the  duty  and  the  understand- 
ing— nay,  I  fear,  the  religion  of  my  child."  I  smote  my 
breast  in  sorrow  and  humiliation. 

Jubal  burst  from  the  apartment,  and  returned  with  his 
lance  in  his  hand,  quivering  with  wrath.  "Now,  all  is 
cleared,"  he  cried;  "the  true  cause  was  the  magic  of  that 
idolater.  I  know  the  arts  of  paganism  to  bewitch  the 
senses  of  woman;  the  incantations,  the  perfumes,  the  mid- 
night fires,  and  images,  and  songs.  But  let  him  come 
within  the  throw  of  this  javelin,  and  then  try  whether  all 
his  magic  can  shield  him." 

Eleazar  grasped  his  robe  as  he  was  again  rushing  out. 
"Stop,  madman !  Is  it  with  hands  dipped  in  blood  that 
you  are  to  solicit  the  heart  of  Salome?  Give  me  that 
horrid  weapon;  and  you,  Salathiel,  curb  your  wild  spirit, 


130  SALATBIEL. 

and  listen  to  a  brother,  who  can  have  no  interest  but  in  the 
happiness  of  both  and  all.  If  Salome,  whom  I  loved  an 
infant  on  the  knee,  and  love  to  this  moment,  the  most  in- 
genuous and  happy-hearted  being  on  earth,  has  been  be- 
trayed into  a  fondness  for  this  stranger,  have  we  the  right 
to  force  her  inclinations  ?  I  know  the  depth  of  understand- 
ing that  lies  under  her  playfulness ;  can  she  have  been  de- 
ceived, and  least  of  all  by  those  arts  ?  Impossible !  If  she 
have  sacrificed  her  obedience  to  the  noble  form  and  high  ac- 
complishments of  the  Greek,  we  can  only  lament  her  ex- 
posure to  a  captivation,  made  to  subdue  the  heart  of  woman 
since  the  world  began." 

"Jubal,"  interrupted  I,  "give  me  that  manly  and  honest 
hand.  Eleazar's  wisdom  is  too  calm  to  understand  a 
father,  or  a  lover.  You  .shall  return  with  me,  you  shall 
be  my  son;  Salathiel  has  no  other.  This  foolish  girl  will 
be  sorry  for  her  follies,  and  rejoice  to  receive  you.  The 
Greek  is  driven  from  my  house.  And  let  me  see  who  there 
will  henceforth  disobey."  The  lover's  face  brightened 
with  joy. 

"Well,  make  your  experiment,"  said  Eleazar,  rising.  "So 
end  all  councils  of  war,  in  more  confusion  than  they  be- 
gan. But,  if  I  had  a  wife  and  daughters " 

"Of  course,  you  would  manage  them  to  perfection.  So 
say  all,  who  have  never  had  either." 

Eleazar's  cheek  colored  slightly;  but  with  his  recovering 
smile  of  benevolence,  he  followed  us  to  the  porch  and  wished 
us  success  in  our  expedition. 

We  found  the  household  tranquillized  again.  Miriam 
received  me  with  one  of  those  radiant  smiles,  that  are  a 
husband's  best  welcome  home.  She  had  succeeded  in  calm- 
ing the  minds  of  her  daughters,  and,  a  much  more  difficult 
task,  in  suppressing  the  wrath  of  the  numerous  female 
domestics,  who  had,  as  usual,  constructed  out  of  the  graces 
of  the  Greek,  and  the  beauty  of  Salome,  a  little  romance 
of  their  own.  In  the  whole  course  of  my  life,  I  never  met 
a  female,  from  the  flat-nosed  and  ebony-colored  monster  of 
the  tropics,  to  the  snow-white  and  sublime  fascinator  of 
a  Greek  isle,  without  a  touch  of  romance;  repulsiveness 
could  not  conceal  it,  age  could  not  extinguish  it,  vicissi- 
tude could  not  change  it.  I  have  found  it  in  all  times  and 
places ;  like  a  spring  of  fresh  waters  starting  up  even  from 


SALATHIEL.  131 

the  flint;  cheering  the  cheerless,  softening  the  insensible, 
renovating  the  withered;  a  secret  whisper  in  the  ear  of 
every  woman  alive,  that,  to  the  last,  passion  might  flutter 
its  pinions  round  her  brow.  The  strong  prejudices  of  our 
nation  had  here  given  way,  rebellion  was  but  hushed;  and 
I  was  warned,  by  many  a  look,  of  the  unwelcome  suitor 
whom  I  brought  among  them.  But  from  Salome  there  was 
no  remonstrance.  I  should  have  listened  to  none.  I  loved 
my  child  with  the  strongest  affection  of  a  heart,  rocked  by 
all  the  tides  of  passion:  but  I  could  bear  to  look  upon  the 
pale  beauty  of  her  face — nay,  in  the  wrath  of  the  hour, 
could  have  seen  her  borne  to  the  grave — rather  than  permit 
the  command  to  be  disputed  by  which  she  was  to  wed  in  our 
tribe. 

To  shorten  a  period,  of  which  I  felt  the  full  bitterness, 
the  marriage  preparations  were  hurried  on.  Never  was  the 
ceremony  anticipated  with  less  joy;  we  were  all  unhappy. 
Eleazar  remonstrated,  but  in  vain.  Jubal  retracted,  but  I 
compelled  him  to  adhere  to  his  proposal.  Miriam  was 
closeted  perpetually  with  the  betrothed ;  and,  of  the  whole 
household,  Esther  alone  walked  or  talked  with  me,  and  it 
was  then  only  to  give  me  descriptions  of  her  sister's  misery, 
or  to  pursue  me  through  the  endless  mazes  of  argument,  on 
the  hardship  of  being  forced  to  be  happy.  The  prepara- 
tions proceeded.  The  piece  of  silver  was  given,  the  con- 
tracts were  signed,  the  presents  of  both  families  were  made ; 
the  portion  was  agreed  upon.  It  was  not  customary  to  re- 
quire the  appearance  of  the  bride  until  the  celebration  it- 
self; and  Salome  was  invisible  during  those  days  of  activ- 
ity; in  which,  however,  I  took  the  chief  interest,  for  noth- 
ing could  be  further  from  zeal  than  the  conduct  of  the 
other  agents,  Jubal  alone  excepted.  He  had  recovered  the 
easily  recovered  confidence  of  youth,  and  perhaps  prided 
himself  on  the  triumph  over  a  rival  so  formidable.  Two 
or  three  petitions  for  an  interview  came  to  me  from  my 
daughter.  But  I  knew  their  purport,  and  steadily  de- 
termined not  to  hazard  the  temptation  of  her  tears. 

The  day  came,  and  with  it  the  guests ;  our  dwelling  was 
full  of  banqueting.  The  evening  came,  when  the  cere- 
mony was  to  be  performed,  and  the  bride  led  home  to  her 
husband's  household  in  the  usual  triumph.  One  of  our 
customs  was,  that  a  procession  of  the  bridegroom's  younger 


132  SALATHIEL. 

friends,  male  and  female,  should  be  formed  outside  the 
house  to  wait  for  the  coming  forth  of  the  married  pair. 
The  ceremony  was  borrowed  by  other  nations ;  but,  in  our 
bright  climate  and  cloudless  nights,  the  profusion  of  lamps 
and  torches,  the  burning  perfumes,  glittering  dresses,  and 
fantastic  joy  of  the  dancing  and  singing  crowd,  had  un- 
equalled liveliness  and  beauty.  I  remained  at  my  case- 
ment, gazing  on  the  brilliant  escort,  that,  as  it  gathered 
and  arranged  itself  along  the  gardens,  looked  like  a  flight 
of  glow-worms.  But  no  marriage  summons  came !  I  grew 
impatient.  My  only  answer  was,  the  sight  of  Jubal  rush- 
ing from  the  house,  and  an  outcry  among  the  women. 
Salome  was  not  to  be  found !  She  had  been  left  by  herself 
for  a  few  hours,  as  was  the  custom,  to  arrange  her  thoughts 
for  a  ceremony  which  we  considered  religious  in  the  high- 
est degree.  On  the  bridegroom's  arrival,  she  had  disap- 
peared ! 

The  blow  struck  me  deep.  Had  I  driven  her  into  the 
arms  of  the  Greek,  by  my  severity?  Had  I  driven  her 
out  of  her  senses  ?  or  out  of  life  ?  Conjecture  on  conjecture 
stung  me.  I  reprobated  my  own  cruelty,  refused  consola- 
tion, and  spent  the  night  in  alternate  self-upbraidings,  and 
prayers  for  my  unhappy  child. 

Search  was  indefatigably  made.  The  fiery  jealousy  of 
Jubal,  the  manly  anxiety  of  Eleazar,  the  hurt  feelings  of 
our  tribe,  insulted  by  the  possibility  that  their  chieftain's 
heir  should  have  been  scorned,  and  that  the  triumph  should 
be  to  an  alien,  were  all  embarked  in  the  pursuit.  But, 
search  was  in  vain;  and,  after  days  and  nights  of  weari- 
ness, I  returned  to  my  home,  there  to  be  met  by  sorrow- 
ing faces,  and  to  feel  that  every  tear  was  an  appeal  against 
my  own  obstinacy.  I  shrank  into  solitude.  I  exclaimed 
that  the  vengeance,  the  more  than  vengeance,  of  my  crime, 
had  struck  its  heaviest  blow  on  me,  in  the  loss  of  my  child ! 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

I  WAS  in  one  of  those  fits  of  abstraction,  revolving  the 
misery  in  which  my  still  beloved  daughter  might  be,  if 
indeed  she  were  in  existence ;  when  the  door  of  my  cham- 
ber opened  softly,  and  one  of  my  domestics  appeared,  mak- 


SALATHIEL.  133 

ing  a  signal  of  silence.  This  was  he  whom  I  had  detected 
in  correspondence  with  the  Eoman  agent,  and  forgiven 
through  the  entreaties  of  Miriam.  The  man  had  since 
shown  remarkable  interest  in  the  recovery  of  my  daughter, 
and  thus  completely  reinstated  himself.  He  knelt  oefore 
me,  and,  with  more  humility  than  I  desired,  implored  my 
pardon  for  having  again  held  intercourse  with  the  Eoman. 

"It  was  my  zeal,"  said  he,  "to  gain  intelligence;  for  I 
knew  that  nothing  passed  in  the  provinces  a  secret  from 
him.  This  letter  is  his  answer,  and  perhaps  I  shall  be  for- 
given for  the  sake  of  what  it  contains."  I  read  it  with 
trembling  avidity.  It  was  mysterious;  described  two  fugi- 
tives who  had  made  their  escape  to  Coesarea;  and  inti- 
mated that,  as  they  were  about  to  fly  into  Asia  Minor,  the 
pursuit  must  be  immediate,  and  conducted  with  the  utmost 
secrecy. 

I  was  instantly  on  horseback.  Dreading  to  disturb  my 
family  by  false  hopes,  I  ordered  out  my  hounds,  ranged 
the  hills  in  sight  of  my  dwelling,  and  then  turning  off, 
struck  in  the  spur,  and  attended  only  by  the  domestic, 
went  full  speed  to  Csesarea.  From  the  summit  of  Mount 
Carmel  I  looked  down  upon  the  city  and  the  broad  Medi- 
terranean. But  my  eyes  then  felt  no  delight  in  the 
grandeur  of  art  or  nature.  The  pompous  structures  on 
which  Herod  the  Great  had  expended  a  treasure  beyond 
count,  and  which  the  residence  of  the  governor  made  the 
Roman  capital  of  Judea,  were  to  me  but  so  many  dens  and 
dungeons,  in  which  my  child  might  be  hid.  The  sea  showed 
me  only  the  path  by  which  she  might  have  been  borne 
away,  or  the  grave  in  which  her  wanderings  were  to  close. 

By  extraordinary  speed,  I  reached  the  gates  just  as  the 
trumpet  was  sounding  for  their  close.  My  attendant  went 
forth  to  obtain  information;  and  I  was  left  pacing  my 
chamber  in  feverish  suspense.  I  did  not  suffer  it  long. 
The  door  opened,  and  a  group  of  soldiers  ordered  me  to  fol- 
low them.  Resistance  was  useless.  They  led  me  to  the 
palace.  There  I  was  delivered  from  guard  to  guard, 
through  a  long  succession  of  apartments,  until  we  reached 
the  door  of  a  banqueting  room.  The  festivity  within  was 
high;  and  if  I  could  have  then  sympathized  with  singing 
and  laughter,  I  might  have  had  full  indulgence  during  the 
immeasurable  hour  that  I  lingered  out,  a  broken  wretch,  ex- 


134  SALATHIEL. 

hausted  by  desperate  effort,  sick  at  heart,  and  of  course  not 
unanxious  for  the  result  of  an  interview  with  the  Eoman 
procurator ;  a  man  whose  name  was  equivalent  to  vice,  ex* 
tortion,  and  love  of  blood,  throughout  Judea. 

At  length  the  feast  was  at  an  end.  I  was  summoned, 
and  for  the  first  time  saw  Gessius  Florus,  a  little  bloated 
figure,  with  a  countenance  that,  to  the  casual  observer,  was 
the  model  of  gross  good  nature,  a  twinkling  eye,  and  a  lip 
on  the  perpetual  laugh.  His  bald  forehead  wore  a  wreath 
of  flowers,  and  his  tunic  and  the  couch  on  which  he  lay 
breathed  perfume.  The  table  before  him  was  a  long  vista 
of  sculptured  cups,  and  golden  vases  and  candelabra.  "I 
am  sorry  to  have  detained  you  so  long,"  said  he,  "but  this 
was  the  emperor's  birthday,  and,  as  good  subjects,  we  have 
kept  it  accordingly." 

During  this  speech,  he  was  engaged  in*contemplating  the 
wine  bubbles  as  they  sparkled  above  the  brim  of  a  large 
amethystine  goblet.  A  pale  and  delicate  Italian  boy, 
sumptuously  dressed,  the  only  one  of  the  guests  who  re- 
mained, perceiving  that  I  was  fatigued,  filled  a  cup,  and 
presented  it.  "Eight,  Septimius,"  said  the  debauchee, 
"make  the  Jew  drink  the  emperor's  health."  The  youth 
bowed  gracefully  before  me,  and  again  offered  the  cup,  but 
the  time  was  not  for  indulgence,  and  I  laid  it  on  the  table. 
"Here's  long  life  and  glory  to  Nero  Claudius  Ceesar,  our 
pious,  merciful,  and  invincible  emperor,"  cried  Florus; 
and  only  when  he  had  drunk  to  the  bottom  of  the  goblet, 
found  leisure  to  look  upon  his  prisoner. 

He  either  felt  or  affected  surprise,  and,  turning  to  his 
young  companion,  said,  "By  Hercules,  boy,  what  grand 
fellows  those  Jews  make!  The  helmet  is  nothing  to  the 
turban,  after  all.  What  magnificence  of  beard !  No  Ital- 
ian chin  has  the  vigor  to  grow  anything  so  suburb;  then, 
the  neck,  like  the  bull  of  Milo;  and  those  blazing  eyes! 
If  I  had  but  a  legion  of  such  spearsmen " 

I  grew  impatient  and  said,  "I  stand  here,  procurator, 
in  your  bonds.  I  demand  why!  I  have  business  that 
requires  my  instant  attention  and  I  desire  to  be  gone." 

"Now,  have  I  treated  you  so  inhospitably,"  said  he, 
laughing,  "that  you  expect  I  shall  finish  by  shutting  my 
doors  upon  you  at  this  time  of  night?"  He  glanced  upon 
his  tablets  and  read  the  name.  "Ay,"  said  he,  "and  after 


SALATHIEL.  135 

I  had  been  so  long  wishing  for  the  honor  of  your  com- 
pany. Jew,  take  your  wine,  and  sit  down  upon  that  couch 
and  tell  me  what  brought  you  to  Caesarea." 

I  told  him  briefly  the  circumstances.  He  roared  with 
laughter,  desired  me  to  repeat  them  and  swore  that  "By 
all  the  gods !  it  was  the  very  best  piece  of  pleasantry  he  had 
heard  since  he  set  foot  in  Judea."  I  stood  up  in  irre- 
pressible indignation.  "What !"  said  he,  "will  you  gc 
without  hearing  my  story  in  return  ?"  He  filled  his  goblet 
again  to  the  brim,  buried  his  purple  visage  in  a  vase  of 
roses,  and  having  inhaled  the  fragrance,  and  chosen  an 
easy  posture,  said  coldly,  "Jew,  you  have  told  me  a  most 
excellent  story,  and  it  is  only  fair  that  I  should  tell  you 
one  in  return;  not  half  so  amusing,  I  admit,  but  to  the 
full  as  true.  Jew,  you  are  a  traitor !"  I  started  back. 
"Jew,"  said  he,  "you  must  in  common  civility  hear  me  out. 
The  truth  is,  that  your  visit  has  been  so  often  anticipated 
and  so  long  delayed,  that  I  cannot  bear  to  part  with  you; 
you  are  an  apostate;  you  encourage  those  Christian  dogs. 
Why  does  the  man  stare  ?  You  are  in  communication  with 
rebels,  and  I  might  have  had  the  honor  of  meeting  you 
in  the  field  if  you  had  not  put  yourself  into  my  hands  in 
Csesarea." 

He  pronounced  those  words  of  death  in  the  most  tran- 
quil tone;  not  a  muscle  moved;  the  cup  which  he  held 
brimful  in  his  hand  never  overflowed.  "Jew,"  said  he, 
"now  be  honest,  and  so  far  set  an  example  to  your  nation. 
Where  is  the  money  that  has  been  gathered  for  this  rebel- 
lion? You  are  too  sagacious  a  soldier  to  think  of  going 
to  war  without  the  main  spring  of  the  machine." 

I  scorned  to  deny  the  intended  insurrection ;  but  "money 
I  had  collected  none." 

"Then,"  said  he,  "you  are  now  compelling  me  to  a 
measure  which  I  do  not  like.  Ho !  guard !"  A  soldier 
presented  himself.  "Desire  that  the  rack  shall  be  got 
ready."  The  man  retired.  "You  see,  Jew,  this  is  all  your 
own  doing.  Give  up  the  money  and  I  give  up  the  rack. 
And  the  surrender  of  the  coin  is  asked  merely  in  com- 
passion to  yourselves,  for  without  it  you  cannot  rebel,  and 
the  more  you  rebel  the  more  you  will  be  beaten." 

"Beware,  Gessius  Floras,"  I  exclaimed,  "beware.  I  am 
your  prisoner,  entrapped,  as  I  now  see,  by  a  villain,  or  by 


136  8ALATHIEL. 

the  greater  villain  who  corrupted  him.  You  may  rack  me 
if  you  will;  you  may  insult  my  feelings,  tear  my  flesh, 
take  my  life;  but,  for  this,  there  will  be  retribution. 
Through  Upper  Galilee,  from  Tiberias  to  the  top  of  Li- 
banus,  this  act  of  blood  will  ring,  and  be  answered  by 
blood.  I  have  kinsmen  many;  countrymen,  myriads.  A 
single  wrench  of  my  sinews  may  lift  a  hundred  thousand 
arms  against  your  city  and  leave  of  yourself  nothing  but 
the  remembrance  of  your  crimes." 

He  bounded  from  his  couch ;  the  native  fiend  flashed  out 
in  his  countenance.  I  waited  his  attack  with  my  hand  on 
the  poniard  within  my  sash.  My  look  probably  deterred 
him,  for  he  flung  himself  back  again,  and,  bursting  into  a 
loud  laugh,  exclaimed:  "Bravely  spoken.  Septimius,  we 
must  send  the  Jew  to  Rome  to  teach  our  orators.  Ay,  I 
know  Upper  Galilee  too  well  not  to  know  that  rebellion 
is  more  easily  raised  there  than  the  taxes.  And  it  was  for 
that  reason  that  I  invited  you  to  come  to  Caesarea.  In  the 
midst  of  your  tribe  capture  would  have  cost  half  a  legion ; 
here  a  single  jailor  will  do  the  business.  Ho !  guard !"  he 
called  aloud.  I  heard  the  screwing  of  the  rack  in  the  next 
room  and  unsheathed  the  poniard.  The  blade  glittered  in 
his  eyes.  Septimius  came  between  us  and  tried  to  turn  the 
procurator's  purpose. 

"Let  your  guard  come,"  cried  I,  "and,  by  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  Temple,  one  of  us  dies.  I  will  not  live  to  be 
tortured,  or  you  shall  not  live  to  see  it."  If  the  door  had 
opened  I  was  prepared  to  dart  upon  him. 

"Well,"  said  he,  after  a  whispered  expostulation  from 
Septimius,  "you  must  go  and  settle  the  matter  with  the 
Emperor.  The  fact  is,  that  I  am  too  tender-hearted  to 
govern  such  a  nation  of  dagger-bearers.  So,  to  Nero !  If 
we  cannot  send  the  Emperor  money  we  will  at  least  send  him 
men."  He  laughed  vehemently  at  the  conception ;  ordered 
the  singing  and  dancing  slaves  to  return;  called  for  wine 
and  plunged  again  into  his  favorite  cup. 

Septimius  arose  and  led  me  into  another  chamber.  I 
remonstrated  against  the  injustice  of  my  seizure.  He 
lamented  it,  but  said  that  the  orders  from  Rome  were 
strict,  and  that  I  was  denounced  by  some  of  the  chiefs  in 
Jerusalem  as  the  head  of  the  late  insurrection,  and  the 
projector  of  a  new  one.  The  procurator,  he  added, 


SALATHIEL.  137 

been  for  some  time  anxious  to  get  me  into  his  power  with- 
out raising  a  disturbance  among  my  tribe;  the  treachery 
of  my  domestic  had  been  employed  to  effect  this;  and 
"now,"  concluded  he,  "my  best  wish  for  you — a  wish 
prompted  by  motives  of  which  you  can  form  no  conjecture 
— is,  that  you  may  be  sent  to  Rome.  Every  day  that  sees 
you  in  Caesarea,  sees  you  in  the  utmost  peril.  At  the  first 
rumor  of  insurrection  your  life  will  be  the  sacrifice." 

"But  my  family!  What  will  be  their  feelings!  Can  I 
not  at  least  acquaint  them  with  my  destination  ?" 

"It  is  impossible.  And  now,  to  let  you  into  a  state 
secret,  the  Emperor  had  ordered  that  you  should  be  sent 
to  Rome.  Florus  menaced  you  only  to  extort  money.  He 
now  knows  you  better  and  would  gladly  enlist  you  in  the 
Roman  cause.  This  I  know  to  be  hopeless.  But  I  dread 
his  caprice,  and  shall  rejoice  to  see  the  sails  hoisted  that 
are  to  carry  you  to  Rome.  Farewell:  your  family  shall 
have  due  intelligence."  He  was  at  the  door  of  the  cham- 
ber, but  suddenly  returned,  and,  pressing  my  hand,  said 
again,  "Farewell,  and  remember  that  neither  all  Romans 
nor  even  all  Greeks  may  be  alike !"  He  then  with  a  grace- 
ful obeisance  left  the  room. 

A  soldier,  sword  in  hand,  soon  entered.  He  pointed  to 
the  door,  where  an  armed  party  were  seen,  and  informed 
me  that  I  was  ordered  for  immediate  embarkation. 

It  was  scarcely  past  midnight;  the  stars  were  still  in 
their  splendor;  the  pharos  threw  a  long  line  of  flame  on 
the  waters;  the  city  sounds  were  hushed;  and,  silent  as  .1 
procession  to  the  grave,  we  moved  down  to  where  the  tall 
vessel  lay  rocking  with  the  breeze.  At  her  side  a  Nubian 
slave  put  a  note  into  my  hand;  it  was  from  the  young 
Roman,  requesting  my  acceptance  of  wine  and  fruits  from 
the  palace,  and  wishing  me  a  prosperous  result  to  my 
voyage.  The  sails  were  hoisted ;  the  stately  mole,  that  even 
in  the  night  looked  a  mount  of  marble,  was  cleared; 
the  libation  was  poured  to  the  Tritons  for  our  speedy 
passage,  and  the  blazing  pharos  was  rapidly  seen  but  as  a 
twinkling  star. 


13g  SALATHIEL. 

; 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

OUB  trireme  flew  before  the  wind.  By  daybreak  the 
coast  was  but  a  pale  line  along  the  waters ;  but  Carmel  still 
towered  proudly  eminent,  and  with  its  top  alternately 
clouded  and  glittering  in  the  sun,  might  have  been  taken 
for  a  gigantic  beacon,  throwing  up  alternate  smoke  and 
flame.  With  what  eyes  did  I  continue  to  look,  until  the 
mighty  hill  too  sank  in  the  waters!  But  thought  still 
lingered  on  the  shore.  I  saw,  with  a  keenness  more  than 
of  the  eye,  the  family  circle;  through  many  an  hour  of 
gazing  on  the  waters,  I  was  all  but  standing  in  the  midst 
of  those  walls  which  I  might  never  more  see;  listening 
to  the  uncomplaining  sighs  of  Miriam,  the  impassioned 
remonstrances  of  my  sole  remaining  child,  and  busied 
in  the  still  harder  task  of  finding  out  some  defence  against 
the  self-accusation  that  laid  the  charge  of  rashness  and 
cruelty  heavy  on  my  soul.  But,  the  scene  round  me  was 
the  very  reverse  of  moody  meditation.  The  captain  was 
a  thorough  Italian  trierarch,  ostentatious,  gay,  given  to 
superstition,  and  yet  occasionally  a  little  of  a  freethinker. 
His  ship  was  to  him  child,  wife,  and  world;  and  at  every 
manoeuvre  he  claimed  from  us  such  tribute  as  a  father 
might  for  the  virtues  of  his  favorite  offspring;  perpetual 
luck  was  in  everything  that  she  did:  she  knew  every 
headland  from  Cyprus  to  Ostia :  a  pilot  was  a  mere  super- 
numerary: she  could  run  the  whole  course  without  the 
helm,  if  she  pleased.  She  beat  the  Liburnian  for  speed; 
the  Cypriot  for  comfort ;  the  Sicilian  for  safety ;  and  every 
other  vessel  on  the  seas  for  every  other  quality.  "All 
he  asked  was,  to  live  in  her,  while  he  lived  at  all;  and 
to  go  down  in  her  when  the  Fates  were  at  last  to  cut  his 
thread,  as  they  did  those  of  all  captains,  whether  on  sea 
or  land." 

The  panegyric  of  the  good  ship  Ganymede  was  in  some 
degree  merited:  she  carried  us  on  boldly.  For  a  sea,  in 
which  the  winds  are  constant  when  they  come,  but  in  which 
the  calms  are  as  constant  as  the  winds,  nothing  could  have 
been  more  perfectly  adapted  than  the  ancient  galley.  If 
the  gale  rose,  the  ship  shot  along  like  the  eagle  that  bore 
her  Trojan  namesake :  light,  strong,  with  her  white  sails 
full  of  the  breeze,  and  cleaving  the  surge  with  the  rapidity 


SALATBIEL.  139 

of  an  arrow.  If  the  wind  fell,  we  floated  in  a  pavilion, 
screened  from  the  sun,  refreshed  with  perfumes  burning 
on  poop,  brow  and  masts,  surrounded  with  gilding,  and  the 
carvings  and  paintings  of  the  Greek  artists,  drinking  de- 
licious Wines,  listening  to  song  and  story,  and  in  all  this 
enjoyment,  gliding  insensibly  along  on  a  lake  of  absolute 
sapphire,  encircled  and  varied  by  the  most  picturesque 
and  lovely  islands  in  the  world.  The  Ganymede  had  been 
under  special  orders  from  Rome  for  my  transmission; 
but  the  captain  felt  too  much  respect  for  the  procurator 
not  to  trespass  on  the  letter  of  the  law,  so  far  as  to  fill 
up  the  vacancies  of  his  hold  with  merchandise,  in  which 
Florus  drove  a  steady  contraband  trade.  Having  done 
so  much  to  gratify  the  governor's  distinguishing  propen- 
sity, he  next  provided  for  his  own;  and  loaded  his  gallant 
vessel  mercilessly  with  passengers,  as  much  prohibited  as 
his  merchandise.  While  we  were  yet  in  sight  of  land,  I 
walked  a  lonely  deck;  but  when  the  salutary  fear  of  the 
galleys  on  the  station  was  passed,  every  corner  of  the 
Ganymede  let  loose  a  living  cargo. 

For  the  Jewish  chieftain  going  from  Florus  on  a  mis- 
sion to  the  Emperor,  as  the  captain  conceived  me  and  my 
purpose  to  be,  a  separate  portion  of  the  deck  was  kept 
sacred.  But,  I  mingled  from  time  to  time  with  the 
crowd,  and  thus  contrived  to  preserve  at  once  my  re- 
spect and  my  popularity.  Never  was  there  a  more  mis- 
cellaneous collection.  We  transported  into  Europe  a 
Chaldee  sorcerer,  an  Indian  gymnosophist,  an  Arab  teacher 
of  astrology,  a  Magian  from  Persepolis,  and  a  Platonist 
from  Alexandria.  Such  were  our  contributions  to  Oriental 
science.  We  had,  besides,  a  dealer  in  sleight-of-hand 
from  Damascus;  an  Egyptian  with  tame  monkeys  and  a 
model  of  a  pyramid;  a  Syrian  serpent-teacher;  an  Idu- 
mean  maker  of  amulets  against  storm  and  calm,  thirst 
and  hunger,  and  every  other  disturbance  and  distress  of 
life;  an  Armenian  discoverer  of  the  stone  by  which  gold 
mines  were  to  be  discovered;  a  Byzantine  inventor  of  the 
true  Oriental  pearls;  a  dealer  from  the  Caspian  in  gum: 
superseding  all  that  Arabia  ever  wept;  an  Epicurean 
philosopher,  who  professed  indolence,  and,  to  do  him 
justice,  was  a  striking  example  of  his  doctrine;  and  a 
Stoic,  who,  having  gone  his  rounds  of  the  Koman  gar- 


140  8ALATHIEL. 

risons  as  a  teacher  of  dancing,  a  curer  of  wines,  and  a 
flute-player,  had  now  risen  into  the  easier  vocation  of  a 
philosopher.  Of  course,  among  these  professors  the  dis- 
coverer of  gold  was  the  most  moneyless;  the  maker  of 
amulets  against  misfortune  the  most  miserable;  and  the 
Stoic  the  most  impatient.  The  Epicurean  alone  adhered 
to  the  spirit  of  his  profession. 

But  the  unstable  elements  round  us  were  a  severe  trial 
for  any  human  philosophy  but  that  of  a  thorough  optimist. 
Wind  and  water,  the  two  most  imperious  of  all  things, 
were  our  masters;  and  a  calm,  a  breeze,  or  even  a  billow, 
often  tried  our  reasoners  too  roughly  for  the  honor  of 
tempers  so  saturated  with  wisdom.  On  these  occasions 
the  Platonist  defended  the  antiquity  of  Egypt  with  double 
pertinacity;  the  Chaldee  derided  its  novelty  by  the  addi- 
tion of  a  hundred  thousand  years  to  his  chronology  of 
Babylon;  the  Indian  with  increased  scorn,  wrinkling  his 
brown  visage,  told  them  that  both  Babylon  and  Egypt 
were  baubles  of  yesterday  compared  with  the  million  years 
of  India.  The  dagger  would  have  silenced  many  a  dis- 
cussion on  the  chief  good,  the  origin  of  benevolence,  antl 
the  beauty  of  virtue,  but  for  the  voice  of  the  captain,  which, 
like  thunder,  cleared  the  air.  He,  I  will  allow,  was  the 
truest  philosopher  of  us  all.  The  trierarch  was  an  un- 
conscious optimist;  nothing  could  touch  him  in  the  shape 
of  misfortune;  for,  to  him  it  had  no  existence.  If  tha 
storm  rose,  "we  should  get  the  more  rapidly  into  port;'5 
if  the  calm  came  to  fix  us  scorching  on  the  face  of  the 
waters,  "nothing  could  be  safer."  If  our  provisions  fell 
short,  "abstemiousness  now  and  then  was  worth  a  genera- 
tion of  doctors."  If  the  sun  burned  above  us,  with  the 
fire  of  a  ball  of  red-hot  iron,  "it  was  the  test  of  fair 
weather;"  if  the  sky  was  a  mass  of  vapor,  "we  escaped 
being  roasted  alive." 

His  maxims  on  higher  subjects  were  equally  consoling. 
"If  a  man  had  to  struggle  through  life,  struggle  was  the 
nursing-mother  of  greatness;  or,  il  he  were  opulent,  he 
had  gained  the  end  without  the  trouble.  If  he  had  dis- 
ease, he  learned  patience,  essential  for  sailor,  soldier,  and 
philosopher  alike.  If  he  enjoyed  health,  who  could  doubt 
the  blessing?  If  he  lived  long,  he  had  time  for  pleasure; 
if  he  died  early,  he  escaped  the  chances  of  the  tables' 


SALATHIEL.  141 

turning."  The  optimist  applied  his  principle  to  me, 
by  gravely  informing  me,  that  "though  it  depended  on  the 
Emperor's  state  of  digestion,  whether  I  should,  or  should 
not,  carry  back  my  head  from  his  presence,  yet  if  I  lived,  I 
should  see  the  games  of  the  Circus;  and  if  I  did  not.,  I 
should  in  all  probability  care  but  little  about  the  matter." 

Nothing  in  the  variety  of  later  Europe  gives  me  a 
parallel  to  the  distinctions  of  rank  and  profession,  style 
of  subsistence,  and  physiognomy  of  society,  in  the  ancient 
world.  Human  nature  was  classed  in  every  kingdom, 
province,  and  city,  almost  as  rigidly  as  the  different  races 
of  mankind.  The  divisions  of  the  slave,  the  freedman, 
the  citizen,  the  artist,  the  priest,  the  man  of  literature, 
and  the  man  of  public  life,  were  cut  with  a  ploughshare, 
whose  furrows  were  never  filled  up.  Life  had  the  curious 
mixture  of  costume,  the  palpable  diversity  of  purpose, 
and  the  studied  intricacy  of  a  drama. 

Our  voyage  was  rapid;  but  even  a  lingering  transit 
would  have  been  cheered  by  the  innumerable  objects  of 
beauty  and  memory,  which  rise  on  every  side  in  the  pas- 
sage through  a  Grecian  sea.  The  islands  were  then  un- 
touched by  the  spoiler;  the  opulence  of  Home  had  been 
added  to  Attic  taste;  and  temples,  theatres,  and  palaces, 
starting  from  groves,  or  studding  the  sides  of  the  stately 
hills,  and  reflected  in  the  mirror  of  bays,  smooth  and 
bright  as  polished  steel,  held  the  eye  a  continual  captive. 
On  the  sea,  flights  of  vessels,  steering  in  all  directions, 
glittering  with  the  emblems  of  their  nations,  the  colored 
pennants,  the  painted  prows,  and  gilded  images  of  their 
protecting  deities,  covered  the  horizon  with  life.  We 
had  reached  the  southern  cape  of  Greece,  and  were,  with  a 
boldness  unusual  to  ancient  navigation,  stretching  across 
in  a  starless  night  for  the  coast  of  Italy;  when  we  caught 
a  sound  of  distant  music,  that  recalled  the  poetic  dreams 
of  nymphs  and  tritons.  The  sound  swelled  and  sunk 
on  the  wind,  as  if  it  came  from  the  depths  of  the  sea, 
or  the  bosom  of  the  clouds.  As  we  parted  from  the  land, 
it  swelled  higher,  until  it  filled  the  midnight  with  pompous 
harmony.  To  sleep  was  profanation,  and  we  all  gathered 
on  the  deck,  exhausting  nature  and  art  in  conjectures 
of  the  cause. 

The  harmony  approached  and  receded  at  intervals,  grew 


142  BALATHIEL* 

in  volume,  then  stole  away  in  wild  murmurs,  to  revive 
with  still  more  luxuriant  sweetness.  Night  passed  in 
delight  and  conjecture.  Morning  alone  brought  the  solu- 
tion. 

Full  in  the  blaze  of  sunrise  steered  the  imperial  fleet, 
returning  in  triumph  from  the  Olympic  games,  with  the 
Emperor  on  board.  We  had  unconsciously  approached 
it  during  the  darkness. 

The  whole  scene  wore  the  aspect  of  a  vision  summoned 
by  the  hand  of  an  enchanter.  The  sea  was  covered  with 
the  fleet  in  order  of  battle.  Some  of  the  galleys  were 
of  vast  size,  and  all  were  gleaming  with  gold  and  decora- 
tions; silken  sails,  garlands  on  the  masts,  trophies  hung 
over  the  sides,  and  embroidered  streamers  of  every  shape 
and  hue,  met  the  morning  light.  We  passed  the  wing  of 
the  fleet,  close  enough  to  see  the  sacrificial  fires  on  the 
poop  of  the  imperial  quinquereme.  A  crowd  in  purple 
and  military  habits  was  standing  round  a  throne,  above 
which  proudly  waved  the  scarlet  flag  of  command.  A 
figure  advanced:  all  foreheads  were  bowed,  acclamations 
rent  the  air,  the  trumpets  of  the  fleet  flourished,  and  the 
lofty  harmonies,  that  had  charmed  us  in  the  night,  again 
swelled  upon  the  wind,  and  followed  us,  long  after  the 
whole  floating  splendor  had  dissolved  into  the  distant 
blue. 

At  length  the  headlands  of  the  noble  bay  of  Tarentum 
rose  above  the  horizon.  While  we  were  running  with  the 
speed  of  a  lapwing,  the  captain,  to  our  surprise,  shortened 
sail.  I  soon  discovered  that  no  philosophy  was  perfect; 
that  even  the  optimist  thought  that  daylight  might  be 
worse  than  useless,  and  that  a  blot  had  been  left  on  crea- 
tion in  the  shape  of  a  custom-house  officer. 

Night  fell  at  last;  the  moon,  to  which  our  captain  had 
taken  a  sudden  aversion,  was  as  cloudy  as  he  could  desire ; 
and  we  rushed  in  between  the  glimmering  watch-towers 
on  the  lapygian  and  Lacinian  promontories.  The  glow 
of  light  along  the  waters  soon  pointed  out  where  the 
luxurious  citizens  of  Tarentum  were  enjoying  the  banquet 
in  their  villas.  Next  came  the  hum  of  the  great  city, 
whose  popular  boast  was,  like  that  of  later  times,  that 
it  had  more  festivals  than  days  in  the  year. 

But,  the  trierarch's  often-told  delight  at  finding  him- 


SALATHIEL.  143 

self  free  to  rove  among  the  indulgences  of  his  favorite 
shore,  had  lost  its  poignancy;  and  with  a  firmness  which 
set  the  Stoic  in  a  rage,  the  Epicurean  in  a  state  of  re- 
bellion, and  the  whole  tribe  of  our  sages  in  a  temper  of 
mere  mortal  remonstrance,  he  resisted  alike  the  remon- 
strance and  the  allurement,  and  sullenly  cast  anchor  in 
the  center  of  the  bay.  It  was  not  until  song  and  feast 
had  died,  and  all  was  hushed,  that  he  stole,  with  the  slight- 
est possible  noise,  to  the  back  of  the  mole,  and 
sending  us  below,  disburthened  his  conscience,  and  the 
hold  of  the  good  ship  Ganymede  together.  I  had  no 
time  to  give  to  the  glories  of  Tarentum.  Nero's  ap- 
proach hurried  my  departure.  The  centurion  who  had 
me  in  charge  trembled  at  the  idea  of  delay;  and  we  rode 
through  the  midst  of  three  hundred  thousand  sleepers 
in  streets  of  marble  and  ranks  of  statues,  as  silently  and 
swiftly  as  if  we  had  been  the  ghosts  of  their  ancestors. 
When  the  day  broke  we  found  ourselves  among  the  Luca- 
nian  hills,  then  no  desert,  but  crowded  with  population. 
From  the  inn  where  we  halted  to  change  horses,  the  Taren- 
tine  gulf  spread  broad  and  bold  before  the  eye. 

The  city  of  luxury  and  of  power,  once  the  ruler  of 
southern  Italy,  and  mistress  of  the  seas;  which  had  sent 
out  armies  and  fleets,  worthy  to  contest  the  supremacy 
with  Pyrrhus,  and  the  Carthaginian;  was,  from  this 
spot,  sunk,  like  all  the  works  of  man,  into  littleness.  But 
the  gulf,  like  all  the  works  of  nature,  grew  in  grandeur. 
Its  circular  shore  edged  with  thirteen  cities,  the  deep 
azure  of  its  smooth  waters,  inlaid  with  the  flashes  of  sun- 
rise, and  traversed  by  fleets,  diminished  to  toys;  reminded 
me  of  one  of  the  magnificent  Eoman  shields,  with  its 
centre  of  sanguine  steel,  the  silver  incrustation  of  the 
rim,  and  the  storied  sculpture.  We  passed  at  full  speed 
through  the  Lucanian  and  Samnian  provinces,  fine  sweeps 
of  cultivated  country,  interspersed  with  the  hunting  grounds 
of  the  great  patricians;  forests  that  had  not  felt  the  axe 
for  centuries,  and  valleys  sheeted  with  the  vine  and  rose. 

But,  on  reaching  the  border  of  Latium,  I  was  already 
in  Rome;  I  travelled  a  day's  journey  among  streets,  and 
in  the  midst  of  a  crowded  and  hurrying  population.  The 
whole  was  one  huge  suburb,  with  occasional  glimpses  of  a 
central  mount,  crowned  with  glittering  and  gilded  struc- 
tures. "There !"  said  the  centurion,  with  somewhat  of 


144  BALATBISL. 

religious  reverence ;  "behold  the  eternal  Capitol !"  I  en- 
tered Rome  at  night,  passing  through  an  endless  number 
of  narrow  and  intricate  streets,  where  hovels,  the  very 
abode  of  want,  were  mingled  with  palaces  blazing  with 
lights  and  echoing  with  festivity.  The  centurion's  house 
was  at  length  reached.  He  showed  me  to  an  apartment, 
and  left  me,  saying,  "that  I  must  prepare  to  be  brought 
before  the  Emperor  immediately  on  his  arrival.'' 

I  am  now,  thought  I,  in  the  heart  of  the  heart  of  the 
world ;  in  the  midst  of  that  place  of  power  from  which  the 
destiny  of  nations  issues;  in  the  great  treasure-house  to 
which  men  come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  for  knowledge ; 
for  justice,  for  wealth,  honor,  thrones !  and  what  am  I  ? — 
a  solitary  slave! 


CHAPTER  XX. 

WITH  the  original  mixture  of  Ionian  and  northern  blood 
in  his  veins,  the  character  of  the  Roman  was  at  once  taste- 
ful and  barbarian.  Like  the  Asiatic,  delighting  in  luxury, 
like  the  Tartar,  delighting  in  gore,  he  turned  the  elegance 
of  the  Greek  games  into  the  combat  of  gladiators.  He  was 
a  voluptuary,  but  the  gravest  of  all  voluptuaries.  Of  all 
nations,  the  Roman  bore  the  strongest  resemblance  to  that 
people  of  conquerors,  who  at  length  swept  his  name  from 
Byzantium;  superb,  but  slavish;  fierce,  but  sensual;  brave 
as  the  lion,  but  base  in  its  appetites  as  the  jackal.  A  people 
made  for  the  possession  of  empire,  and  for  its  corruption. 

Of  all  men,  he  had  the  least  resemblance  to  his  successor. 
Haughty,  sagacious,  and  solemn,  though  ravening  for  ra- 
pine, and  merciless  in  his  revenge,  he  bequeathed  nothing 
to  that  miscellany  of  mankind  which  has  followed  him,  but 
his  passion  for  shows. 

Rome  was  all  shows.  Its  innumerable  public  events  were 
all  thrown  into  the  shape  of  pageantry.  Its  worships,  elec- 
tions, the  departure  and  return  of  governors  and  consuls, 
every  operation  of  public  life,  was  modelled  into  a  pomp; 
and  in  the  boundless  extent  of  the  empire,  those  operations 
were  crowding  on  each  other  every  day.  The  multitude, 
that  can  still  be  set  in  motion  by  a  wooden  saint,  was  then 
summoned  by  the  stirring  ceremonial  of  empire,  the  actual 
sovereignty  of  the  globe.  What  must  have  been  the  strong 


SALATHIEL.  145 

excitement,  the  perpetual  concourse,  the  living  and  various 
activity  of  a  city,  from  which  flowed  the  stream  of  power 
through  the  world,  to  return  to  it  loaded  with  all  that  the 
Opulence,  skill,  and  splendor  of  the  world  could  give ! 

Triumphs,  to  whose  grandeur  and  singularity  the  pomps 
of  later  days  are  but  as  the  attempts  of  paupers  and  chil- 
dren; rites,  on  which  the  very  existence  of  the  state  was 
to  depend;  the  levy  and  march  of  armies,  which  were  to 
carry  fate  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  earth ;  the  kings  of 
the  east  and  west,  coming  to  solicit  diadems,  or  to  depre- 
cate the  irresistible  wrath  of  Rome;  vast  theatres;  public 
games,  that  tasked  the  whole  fertility  of  Roman  talent,  and 
the  most  prodigal  lavishness  of  imperial  luxury;  were  the 
movers  that  among  the  four  millions  of  Rome  made  life  a 
hurricane. 

I  saw  it  in  its  full  and  grand  commotion ;  I  saw  it  in  its 
desperate  agony;  I  saw  it  in  its  frivolous  revival;  and  I 
shall  see  it  in  an  hour,  wilder,  weaker,  and  more  terrible 
than  all.  I  remained  under  the  charge  of  the  centurion. 
No  man  could  be  better  fitted  for  a  state  jailor.  Civility 
sat  on  his  lips,  but  caution  the  most  profound  sat  beside 
her.  He  professed  to  have  the  deepest  dependence  on  my 
honor,  yet  he  never  let  me  move  beyond  his  eye.  But  I  had 
no  desire  to  escape.  The  crisis  must  come;  and  I  was  as 
well  inclined  to  meet  it  then,  as  to  have  it  lingering  over 
me. 

Intelligence,  in  a  few  days,  arrived  from  Brundusium,  of 
the  Emperor's  landing,  and  of  his  intention  to  remain  at 
Antium,  until  his  triumphal  entry  should  be  prepared.  My 
fate  now  hung  in  the  scale.  I  was  ordered  to  attend  the 
imperial  presence.  At  the  vestibule  of  the  Antian  palace, 
my  careful  centurion  deposited  me  in  the  hands  of  a  sena- 
tor. As  I  followed  him  through  the  halls,  a  young  female 
richly  attired,  and  of  the  most  beautiful  face  and  form, 
crossed  us,  light  and  graceful  as  a  dancing  nymph.  The 
senator  bowed  profoundly.  She  beckoned  to  him,  and  they 
exchanged  a  few  words.  I  was  probably  the  subject;  for 
her  countenance,  sparkling  with  the  animation  of  youth  and 
loveliness,  grew  pale  at  once:  she  clasped  both  her  hands 
upon  her  eyes,  and  rushed  into  an  inner  chamber.  She 
knew  Nero  well;  and  dearly  she  was  yet  to  pay  for  her 
knowledge.  The  senator,  to  my  inquiring  glance,  answered 
\n  a  whisper,  "The  Empress  Poppaea." 


146  SALATHIEL. 

A  few  steps  onward,  and  I  stood  in  the  presence  of  the 
most  formidable  being  on  earth.  Yet,  whatever  might  have 
been  my  natural  agitation  at  the  time,  I  could  scarcely 
restrain  a  smile  at  the  first  sight  of  Nero.  I  saw  a  pale, 
under-sized,  light-haired  young  man,  sitting  .before  a  table 
with  a  lyre  on  it,  and  a  parrot's  cage,  to  whose  inmate  he 
was  teaching  Greek,  with  great  assiduity.  But  for  the  regal 
furniture  of  the  cabinet,  I  should  have  supposed  myself  led 
by  mistake  into  an  interview  with  some  struggling  poet. 
He  shot  around  one  quick  glance,  on  the  opening  of  the 
door,  and  then  proceeded  to  give  lessons  to  his  bird.  I  had 
leisure  to  gaze  on  the  tyrant  and  parricide. 

Physiognomy  is  a  true  science.  The  man  of  profound 
thought,  the  man  of  active  ability,  and,  above  all,  the  man 
of  genius  has  his  character  stamped  on  his  countenance  by 
nature;  the  man  of  violent  passions  and  the  voluptuary 
have  it  stamped  by  habit.  But  the  science  has  its  limits: 
it  has  no  stamp  for  mere  cruelty.  The  features  of  the 
human  monster  before  me  were  mild,  and  almost  handsome : 
a  heavy  eye  and  figure  tending  to  fulness,  gave  the  im- 
pression of  a  quiet  mind;and  but  for  an  occasional  rest- 
lessness of  brow,  and  a  brief  glance  from  under  it,  in  which 
the  leaden  eye  darted  suspicion,  I  should  have  pronounced 
Nero  one  of  the  most  indolently  harmless  of  mankind. 

He  now  remanded  his  pupil  to  its  perch,  took  up  the  lyre, 
and  throwing  a  not  unskilful  hand  over  the  strings,  in  the 
intervals  of  his  performance,  languidly  addressed  a  broken 
sentence  to  me.  "You  have  come,  I  understand,  from 
Judea; — they  tell  me  that  you  have  been,  or  are  to  be,  a 
general  of  the  insurrection ! — you  must  be  put  to  death ; — 
your  countrymen  give  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  I 
always  regret  to  be  troubled  with  them.  But,  to  send  you 
back,  would  be  only  an  encouragement  to  them,  and  to  keep 
you  here  among  strangers,  would  be  only  a  cruelty  to  you. 
I  am  charged  with  cruelty; — you  see  the  charge  is  not 
true.  I  am  lampooned  every  day;  I  know  the  scribblers, 
but  they  must  lampoon  or  starve,  and  I  leave  them  to  do 
both.  Have  you  brought  any  news  from  Judea?  They 
have  not  had  a  true  prince  there  since  the  first  Herod ;  and 
he  was  quite  a  Greek,  a  cut-throat  and  a  man  of  taste.  He 
understood  the  arts.  I  sent  for  you  to  see  what  sort  of 
animal  a  Jewish  rebel  was.  Your  dress  is  handsome,  but 


SALATHIEL.  147 

too  light  for  our  winters.  You  cannot  die  before  sunset, 
as  until  then  I  am  engaged  with  my  music-master.  We  all 
must  die,  when  our  time  comes.  Farewell — till  sunset  may 
Jupiter  protect  you !" 

I  retired  to  execution !  and,  before  the  door  closed,  heard 
this  accomplished  disposer  of  life  and  death,  preluding  upon 
his  lyre  with  increased  energy.  I  was  conducted  to  a  turret, 
until  the  period  in  which  the  Emperor's  engagement  with 
his  music-master  should  leave  him  at  leisure  to  see  me  die ! 
Yet  there  was  kindness  even  under  the  roof  of  Nero,  and 
a  liberal  hand  had  covered  the  table  in  my  cell.  The  hours 
passed  heavily  along,  but  they  passed ;  and  I  was  watching 
the  last  rays  of  my  last  sun,  when  I  suddenly  perceived  a 
cloud  rise  in  the  direction  of  Eome.  It  grew  broader,  deeper, 
darker  as  I  gazed ;  its  centre  was  suddenly  tinged  with  red ; 
the  tinge  spread ;  the  whole  mass  of  cloud  became  crimson ; 
the  sun  went  down,  and  another  sun  seemed  to  have  risen 
in  its  stead.  I  heard  the  clattering  of  horses'  feet  in  the 
court-yards  below;  trumpets  sounded;  there  was  evident 
confusion  in  the  palace ;  the  troops  hurried  under  arms ;  and 
I  saw  a  squadron  of  cavalry  set  off  at  full  speed. 

As  I  was  gazing  on  the  spectacle  before  me,  which  per- 
petually became  more  menacing,  the  door  of  my  cell  slowly 
opened,  and  a  masked  figure  stood  upon  the  threshold.  I 
had  made  up  my  mind ;  and  demanding  if  he  were  the  exe- 
cutioner, told  him,  "I  was  ready."  The  figure  paused,  list- 
ened to  the  sounds  below,  and  after  looking  for  a  while  on 
the  troops  in  the  court-yard,  signified  by  signs,  that  I  had 
a  chance  of  saving  my  life. 

The  love  of  existence  rushed  back  upon  me ;  and  I  eagerly 
inquired  what  was  to  be  done.  He  drew  from  under  his 
cloak  the  dress  of  a  Eoman  slave,  which  I  put  on,  and 
noisely  followed  his  steps  through  a  long  succession  of 
small  and  strangely  intricate  passages.  We  found  no  diffi- 
culty from  guards  or  domestics.  The  whole  palace  was  in  a 
state  of  extraordinary  alarm.  Every  human  being  was 
packing  up  something  or  other :  rich  vases,  myrrhine  cups, 
gold  services,  were  lying  in  heaps  on  the  floors;  costly 
dresses,  instruments  of  music,  all  the  appendages  of  luxury, 
were  flung  loose  in  every  direction, — signs  of  the  sudden 
breaking  up  of  the  court.  I  might  have  plundered  the 
value  of  a  province  with  impunity.  Still,  we  wound  our 


148  BALAfSISL. 

hurried  way.  In  passing  along  one  of  the  corridors,  the 
voice  of  sorrow  struck  the  ear;  my  mysterious  guide  hesi- 
tated; I  glanced  through  the  slab  of  crystal  that  showed 
the  chamber  within. 

It  was  the  one  in  which  I  had  seen  the  Emperor,  but  his 
place  was  now  filled  by  the  form  of  youth  and  beauty  which 
had  crossed  me  on  my  arrival.  She  was  weeping  bitterly, 
and  reading  with  passionate  indignation  a  long  list  of  names 
probably  one  of  those  rolls  in  which  Nero  registered  his  in- 
tended victims,  and  which  in  the  haste  of  departure  he  had 
left  open.  A  second  glance  saw  her  tear  the  paper  into  a 
thousand  fragments,  and  scatter  them  in  the  fountain  that 
gushed  upon  the  floor.  I  left  this  lovely  and  unhappy 
creature,  this  dove  in  the  vulture's  talons,  with  almost  a 
pang.  A  few  steps  more  brought  us  into  the  open  air,  but 
among  bowers  that  covered  our  path  with  darkness.  At  the 
extremity  of  the  gardens  my  guide  struck  with  his  dagger 
upon  a  door ;  it  was  opened ;  we  found  horses  outside ;  he 
sprang  on  one ;  I  sprang  on  its  fellow ;  and  palace,  guards, 
and  the  scaffold  were  left  far  behind. 

He  galloped  so  furiously  that  I  found  it  impossible  to 
speak ;  and  it  was  not  until  we  had  reached  an  eminence,  a 
few  miles  from  Rome  where  we  breathed  our  horses,  that  I 
could  ask  to  whom  I  had  been  indebted  for  my  escape. 
But  I  could  not  extract  a  word  from  him.  He  made  signs 
of  silence,  and  pointed  with  wild  anxiety  to  the  scene  that 
spread  below.  It  was  of  a  grandeur  and  terror  indescribable. 
Rome  was  an  ocean  of  flame !  Height  and  depth  were 
covered  with  red  surges,  that  rolled  before  the  blast  like  an 
endless  tide.  The  flames  burst  up  the  sides  of  the  hills, 
which  they  turned  into  instant  volcanoes,  exploding  volumes 
of  smoke  and  fire ;  then  plunged  into  the  depths  in  a  hundred 
glowing  cataracts ;  then  climbed  and  consumed  again.  The 
distant  sound  of  the  great  city  in  her  convulsion  went  to 
the  soul.  The  air  was  filled  with  the  steady  roar  of  the 
advancing  blaze,  the  crash  of  falling  houses,  and  the  hideous 
cr.tcry  of  the  myriads  flying  through  the  streets,  or  sur- 
rounded and  perishing  in  the  conflagration.  Hostile  to 
Rome  as  I  was,  I  could  not  restrain  the  exclamation :  "There 
goes  the  fruit  of  conquest,  the  glory  of  ages,  the  purchase 
of  the  blood  of  millions !  Was  vanity  made  for  man f  My 
guide  continued  looking  forward  with  intense  ~%rnestness, 


SALATHIEL.  149 

as  if  he  were  perplexed  by  what  avenue  to  enter  the  burning 
city.  I  demanded  who  he  was,  and  whither  he  would  lead 
me.  He  returned  no  answer.  A  long  spire  of  flame  that 
shot  up  from  a  hitherto  untouched  quarter  engrossed  all  his 
senses.  He  struck  in  the  spur,  and  making  a  wild  gesture 
to  me  to  follow,  darted  down  the  hill. 

I  pursued;  we  found  the  Appian  choked  with  wagons, 
baggage  of  every  kind,  and  terrified  crowds  hurrying  into 
the  open  country.  To  force  a  way  through  them  was  im- 
possible. All  was  clamor,  violent  struggle,  and  helpless 
death.  Men  and  women  of  the  highest  rank  were  hurrying 
on  foot,  or  trampled  by  the  rabble  that  had  then  lost  all 
respect  of  condition.  One  dense  mass  of  miserable  life, 
irresistible  from  its  weight,  crushed  by  the  narrow  streets, 
and  scorched  by  the  flames  over  their  heads,  continued  to 
roll  through  the  gates  like  an  endless  stream  of  black  lava. 

We  now  turned  back,  and  attempted  an  entrance  through 
the  gardens  of  some  of  the  villas  that  skirted  the  city  wall 
near  the  Palatine.  All  were  deserted,  and  after  some  dan- 
gerous bounds  over  the  burning  ruins,  we  found  ourselves 
in  the  streets.  The  fire  had  originally  broken  out  on  the 
Palatine,  and  hot  smokes  that  wrapped  and  half  blinded  us, 
hung  thick  as  night  upon  the  wrecks  of  pavilions  and 
palaces ;  but  the  dexterity  and  knowledge  of  my  inexplicable 
guide  carried  us  on.  It  was  in  vain  that  I  insisted  upon 
knowing  the  purpose  of  this  terrible  traverse.  He  pressed 
his  hand  on  his  heart  in  reassurance  of  his  fidelity,  and  still 
spurred  on. 

We  now  passed  under  the  shade  of  an  immense  range  of 
lofty  building,  whose  gloomy  and  solid  strength  seemed  to 
bid  defiance  to  chance  and  time.  A  sudden  yell  appalled 
me.  A  ring  of  fire  swept  round  its  summit  •  burning  cord- 
age, sheets  of  canvas,  and  a  shower  of  all  things  combusti- 
ble, flew  into  the  air  above  our  heads.  An  uproar  fol- 
lowed, unlike  all  that  I  had  ever  heard,  a  hideous  mixture  of 
howls,  shrieks,  and  groans.  The  flames  rolled  down  the 
narrow  street  before  us,  and  made  the  passage  next  to  im- 
possible. While  we  hesitated,  a  huge  fragment  of  the  build- 
ing heaved,  as  if  in  an  earthquake,  and  fortunately  for  us 
fell  inwards.  The  whole  scene  of  terror  was  then  open. 

The  great  amphitheatre  of  Statilius  Taurus  had  caught 
fire !  the  stage  with  its  inflammable  furniture  was  intensely 


150  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

blazing  b'elow.  The  flames  were  wheeling  up,  circle  above 
circle,  through  the  seventy  thousand  seats  that  rose  from 
the  ground  to  the  roof.  I  stood  in  unspeakable  awe  and 
wonder  on  the  side  of  this  colossal  cavern,  this  mighty 
temple  of  the  city  of  fire.  At  length  a  descending  blast 
cleared  away  the  smoke  that  covered  the  arena.  The  cause 
of  those  horrid  cries  was  now  visible.  The  wild  beasts 
kept  from  the  games  had  broken  from  their  dens.  Maddened 
by  affright  and  pain,  lions,  tigers,  panthers,  wolves,  whole 
herds  of  the  monsters  of  India  and  Africa,  were  inclosed  in 
an  impassable  barrier  of  fire.  They  bounded,  they  fought, 
they  screamed,  they  tore;  they  ran  howling  round  and 
round  the  circle;  they  made  desperate  leaps  upwards 
through  the  blaze ;  when  flung  back,  they  fell,  only  to  fast- 
en their  fangs  in  each  other,  and  with  their  parching  jaws 
bathed  in  blood  die  raging.  I  looked  anxiously  to  see 
whether  any  human  being  was  involved  in  this  fearful 
catastrophe;  but,  to  my  relief,  I  could  see  none.  The 
keepers  and  attendants  had  obviously  escaped.  As  I  ex- 
pressed my  gladness,  I  was  startled  by  a  loud  cry  from  my 
guide,  the  first  sound  that  I  had  heard  him  utter.  He 
pointed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  amphitheatre.  There 
indeed  sat  an  object  of  melancholy  interest;  a  man  who 
had  either  been  unable  to  escape,  or  had  determined  to  die. 
Escape  was  now  impossible.  He  sat  in  desperate  calmness 
on  his  funeral  pile.  He  was  a  gigantic  Ethiopian  slave, 
entirely  naked.  He  had  chosen  his  place,  as  if  in  mockery, 
on  the  imperial  throne ;  the  fire  was  above  him  and  around 
him ;  and  under  this  tremendous  canopy  he  gazed,  without 
the  movement  of  a  muscle,  on  the  combat  of  the  wild  beasts 
below;  a  solitary  sovereign,  with  the  whole  tremendous 
game  played  for  himself,  and  inaccessible  to  the  power  of 
man. 

I  was  forced  away  from  this  absorbing  spectacle ;  and  we 
once  more  threaded  the  long  and  intricate  streets  of  Rome. 
As  we  approached  the  end  of  one  of  those  bewildering 
passages,  scarcely  wide  enough  for  us  to  ride  abreast,  I  was 
startled  by  the  sudden  illumination  of  the  tky  immediately 
above;  and,  rendered  cautious  by  the  experience  of  our 
hazards,  called  to  my  companion  to  return.  He  pointed 
behind  me,  and  showed  the  fire  bursting  out  in  the  houses 
by  which  we  had  just  galloped.  I  followed  on.  A  crowcl 


8ALATHIEL.  151 

that  poured  from  the  adjoining  streets  cut  off  our  retreat. 
Hundreds  rapidly  mounted  on  the  houses  in  front,  in  the 
hope,  by  throwing  them  down,  to  check  the  conflagration. 
The  obstacle  once  removed,  we  saw  the  source  of  the  light 
— spectacle  of  horror !  The  great  prison  of  Rome,  the 
Lamartine,  was  on  fire. 

Never  can  I  forget  the  sights  and  sounds — the  dismay — 
the  hopeless  agony — the  fury  and  frenzy  that  then  over- 
whelmed all  hearts.  The  jailors  had  been  forced  to  fly, 
before  they  could  loose  the  fetters,  or  open  the  cells,  of 
the  prisoners.  We  saw  those  gaunt  and  woe-begone  wretches 
crowding  to  their  casements,  and  imploring  impossible 
help ;  clinging  to  the  heated  bars ;  toiling  with  their  im- 
potent grasp  to  tear  out  the  massive  stones ;  some  hopelessly 
wringing  their  hands ;  some  calling  on  the  terrified  specta- 
tors, by  every  name  of  humanity,  to  save  them ;  some,  vent- 
ing their  despair  in  execrations  and  blasphemies  that  made 
the  blood  run  cold;  others,  after  many  a  wild  effort  to 
break  loose,  dashing  their  heads  against  the  walls,  or  stabbing 
themselves.  The  people  gave  them  outcry  for  outcry;  but 
the  llame  forbade  approach.  Before  I  could  extricate  my- 
self from  the  multitude,  a  whirl  of  fiery  ashes  shot  upwards 
from  the  falling  roof;  the  walls  burst  into  a  thousand 
fragments ;  and  the  huge  prison,  with  all  its  miserable  in- 
mates, was  a  heap  of  embers ! 

Exhausted  as  I  was  by  this  endless  fatigue,  and  yet  more 
by  the  melancholy  sights  that  surrounded  every  step,  no 
fatigue  seemed  to  be  felt  by  the  singular  being  who  governed 
my  movements.  He  sprang  through  the  burning  ruins — 
he  plunged  into  the  sulphurous  smoke — he  never  lost  the 
direction  that  he  had  first  taken ;  and  though  baffled  and 
forced  to  turn  back  a  hundred  times,  he  again  rushed  on  his 
track  with  the  directness  of  an  arrow.  For  me  to  make  my 
way  back  to  the  gates,  would  be  even  more  difficult  than  to 
push  forward.  My  ultimate  safety  might  be  in  following, 
and  I  followed.  To  stand  still,  and  to  move,  seemed  equal- 
ly perilous. 

The  streets,  even  with  the  improvements  of  Augustus 
were  still  scarcely  wider  than  the  breadth  of  the  little  Vol- 
scian  carts  that  crowded  them.  They  were  crooked,  long, 
and  obstructed  by  every  impediment  of  a  city  built  in  haste 
after  the  burning  by  the  Gauls,  and  with  no  other  plan 


152  SALATHIEL. 

than  the  caprice  of  its  hurried  tenantry.  The  houses  were 
of  immense  height,  chiefly  wood,  many  roofed  with  thatch, 
and  all  covered  or  cemented  with  pitch.  The  true  surprise 
is,  that  it  had  not  been  burned  once  a  year,  from  the  time 
of  it  building.  Nero,  that  hereditary  concentration  of  vice, 
of  whose  ancestor's  yellow  beard  the  Eoman  orator  said, 
"No  wonder  that  his  beard  was  brass,  when  his  mouth  was 
iron  and  his  heart  lead,"  the  parricide  and  the  prisoner, 
might  plausibly  exonerate  himself  of  an  act  which  might 
have  been  the  deed  of  a  drunken  mendicant  in  any  of  the 
fifty  thousand  hovels  of  this  gigantic  aggregate  of  every- 
thing that  could  turn  to  flame. 

We  passed  along  through  all  the  horrid  varieties  of 
misery,  guilt,  and  riot,  that  could  find  their  place  in  a  great 
public  calamity:  groups  gazing  in  woe  on  the  wreck  of 
their  fortunes  in  vapor  and  fire;  groups  plundering  in  the 
midst  of  the  flame;  crowds  of  rioters,  escaped  felons,  and 
murderers  exulting  in  the  public  ruin,  and  dancing  and 
drinking  with  Bacchanalian  uproar ;  gangs  of  robbers  stab- 
bing the  fugitives,  to  strip  them ;  revenge,  avarice,  despair, 
profligacy,  let  loose  naked;  undisguised  demons,  to  swell 
the  wretchedness  of  this  tremendous  infliction  upon  a  blood 
covered  empire. 

Still  we  spurred  on,  our  jaded  horses  at  length  sank 
under  us ;  and  leaving  them  to  find  their  way  into  the  field, 
we  struggled  forward  on  foot.  The  air  had  hitherto  been 
calm,  but  now  gusts  began  to  rise,  thunder  growled,  and  the 
signs  of  tempest  thickened  on.  We  gained  an  untouched 
quarter  of  the  city,  and  had  explored  our  weary  passage  up 
to  the  gates  of  a  large  patrician  palace,  when  we  were 
startled  by  a  broad  sheet  of  flame  rushing  through  the  sky. 
The  storm  was  come  in  its  rage. 

The  range  of  public  magazines  of  wood,  cordage,  tar,  and. 
oil,  in  the  valley  between  the  Ccelian  and  Palatine  Hills, 
had  at  length  been  involved  in  the  conflagration.  All  that 
we  had  seen  before,  was  darkness  to  the  fierce  splendor  of 
this  burning.  The  tempest  tore  off  the  roofs,  and  swept 
them,  like  floating  islands  of  fire,  through  the  sky,  The 
most  distant  quarters  on  which  they  fell  were  instantly 
wrapped  in  flame.  One  broad  mass,  whirling  from  an 
immense  height,  broke  upon  the  palace  before  us.  A  cry 
of  terror  was  heard  within.  The  palace  was  wrapped  in 


SALATHIEL.  153 

flame.  My  guide,  then  for  the  first  time,  lost  his  self-pos- 
session. He  staggered  towards  me  with  the  appearance 
of  a  man  who  had  received  a  spear  head  in  his  bosom.  L 
caught  him  before  he  fell;  but  his  head  sank,  his  knees 
bent  under  him,  and  his  white  lips  quivered  with  unintel- 
ligible sounds.  I  could  distinguish  only  the  words — 
"gone,  gone  forever." 

The  flame  had  already  seized  upon  the  principal  floors  of 
the  palace;  and  the  volumes  of  smoke  that  poured  through 
every  window  and  entrance  rendered  the  attempt  to  save 
those  still  within  a  work  of  extreme  hazard.  But  ladders 
were  rapidly  placed,  ropes  were  flung,  and  the  activity  of 
the  attendants  and  retainers  was  boldly  exerted,  until  all 
were  presumed  to  have  been  saved,  and  the  building  was 
left  to  burn.  My  overwhelmed  guide  was  lying  on  the 
ground,  when  a  sudden  scream  was  heard,  and  a  figure,  in 
the  robes  and  with  the  rosy  crown  of  a  banquet, — strange 
contrast  to  her  fearful  situation, — was  seen  flying  from 
window  to  window  in  the  upper  part  of  the  mansion.  It 
was  supposed  that  she  had  fainted  in  the  first  terror,  and 
been  forgotten.  The  height,  the  fierceness  of  the  flame, 
which  now  completely  mastered  resistance;  the  volumes  of 
smoke  that  suffocated  every  man  who  approached,  made  the 
chance  of  saving  this  unfortunate  being  utterly  desperate, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  multitude. 

I  shuddered  at  the  horrors  of  this  desertion.  I  looked 
round  at  my  companion;  he  was  kneeling,  in  helpless 
agony,  with  his  hands  lifted  up  to  heaven.  Another  scream, 
wilder  than  ever,  pierced  my  senses.  I  seized  an  axe  from 
one  of  the  domestics,  caught  a  ladder  from  another,  and 
in  a  paroxysm  of  hope,  fear,  and  pity,  scaled  the  burning 
wall.  A  shout  from  below  followed  me. 

I  entered  at  the  first  window  that  I  could  reach.  All 
before  me  was  cloud.  I  rushed  on,  struggled,  stumbled  over 
furniture  and  fragments  of  all  kinds;  fell,  rose  again, 
found  myself  trampling  upon  precious  things, — plate  and 
crystal ;  and  still,  axe  in  hand,  forced  my  way.  I  at  length 
reached  the  apartment  where  I  had  seen  the  figure — it  had 
vanished ! 

A  strange  superstition  of  childhood,  a  thought  that  I 
might  have  been  lured  by  some  spirit  of  evil  into  this  place 
pf  ruin,  suddenly  came  on  me.  I  stopped,  to  gather  my 


154  8ALATHIEL. 

faculties.  I  leaned  against  one  of  the  pillars — it  was  hot ; 
the  floor  shook  and  cracked  under  my  tread;  the  walls 
heaved,  the  flame  hissed  below,  while  overhead  roared  the 
whirlwind,  and  burst  the  thunder-peal. 

My  brain  was  fevered  by  agitation  and  fatigue.  The 
golden  lamps  still  burning;  the  long  tables  disordered,  yet 
glittering  with  the  ornaments  of  patrician  luxury;  the 
Tyrian  couches ;  the  scarlet  canopy  that  covered  the  whole 
range  of  the  tables,  and  gave  the  hall  the  aspect  of  an  im- 
perial pavilion,  partially  torn  down  in  the  confusion  of  the 
flight,  all  assumed  to  me  a  horrid  and  bewildering  splendor. 
The  smokes  were  already  rising  through  the  crevices  of  the 
floor;  a  huge  volume  of  yellow  vapor  slowly  wreathed  and 
arched  round  the  chair  at  the  head  of  the  banquet  table.  I 
could  have  imagined  a  fearful  lord  of  the  feast  under  that 
cloudy  veil !  Everything  round  me  was  marked  with  pre- 
ternatural fear,  magnificence,  and  ruin. 

A  low  groan  broke  my  momentous  reverie.  I  heard  the 
broken  words,  "Oh,  bitter  fruit  of  disobedience ! — Oh,  my 
father !  Oh,  my  mother !  shall  I  never  see  you  again  ? — 
For  one  crime  I  am  doomed. — Eternal  mercy,  let  my  crime 
be  washed  away ! — let  my  spirit  ascend  pure ! — Farewell, 
mother,  sister,  father,  husband !"  With  the  last  word  I 
heard  a  fall,  as  if  the  spirit  had  left  the  body. 

I  sprang  towards  the  sound :  I  met  but  the  solid  wall. 
"Horrible  illusion !"  I  cried — "am  I  mad,  or  the  victim  of 
the  powers  of  darkness?"  I  tore  away  the  hangings — a 
door  was  before  me.  I  burst  it  through  with  a  blow  of  the 
axe,  and  saw  stretched  on  the  floor,  and  insensible — 
Salome ! 

I  caught  my  child  in  my  arms;  I  bathed  her  forehead 
with  my  tears;  I  besought  her  to  look  up,  to  give  some 
sign  of  life,  to  hear  the  full  forgiveness  of  my  breaking 
heart.  She  looked  not,  answered  not,  breathed  not !  To 
make  a  last  effort  for  her  life,  I  carried  her  into  the  banquet- 
room.  But  the  fire  had  forced  its  way  there;  the  storm 
had  carried  the  flame  through  the  long  galleries ;  and  spires 
of  lurid  light  already  darting  through  the  doors,  gave  fear- 
ful evidence  that  the  last  stone  of  the  palace  must  soon  go 
down. 

I  bore  my  unhappy  daughter  towards  the  window;  but 
the  height  was  deadly;  no  gesture  could  be*seen  through 


8ALATHIEL.  155 

the  piles  of  smoke ;  end  the  help  of  man  was  in  vain.  To 
my  increased  misery,  the  current  of  air  revived  Salome,  at 
the  instant  when  I  hoped  that  by  insensibility  she  would 
escape  the  final  pang.  She  breathed,  stood,  and,  opening 
her  eyes,  fixed  on  me  the  vacant  stare  of  one  scarcely  roused 
from  sleep.  Still  clasped  in  my  arms,  she  gazed  again  ;  but 
my  wild  face,  covered  with  dust,  my  half-burnt  hair,  the  axe 
gleaming  in  my  hand,  terrified  her ;  she  uttered  a  scream, 
and  darted  away  from  me  headlong  into  the  centre  of  the 
burning.  I  rushed  after  her,  calling  on  her  name.  A 
column  of  fire  shot  up  between  us;  I  felt  the  floor  sink; 
all  was  then  suffocation — I  struggled  and  fell. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

I  AWOKE,  with  a  sensation  of  pain  in  every  limb.  A 
female  voice  was  singing  a  faint  song  near  me.  But  the 
past  was  like  a  dream.  I  involuntarily  looked  down  for  the 
gulf  on  which  I  had  trod — I  looked  upward  for  the  burning 
rafters.  I  saw  nothing  but  an  earthen  floor,  and  a  low 
roof  hung  with  dried  grapes  and  herbs.  I  uttered  a  cry. 
The  singer  approached  me.  But  there  was  nothing  in  her 
aspect  to  nurture  a  diseased  imagination;  she  was  an  old 
and  emaciated  creature,  who  yet  rejoiced  in  my  restoration. 
She  in  turn  called  her  husband,  a  venerable  Jew,  whose  first 
act  was  to  offer  thanksgiving  to  the  God  of  Israel,  for  the 
safety  of  a  chief  of  his  nation.  But,  to  my  inquiries  for  the 
fate  of  my  child,  he  could  give  no  answer ;  he  had  discovered 
me  among  the  ruins  of  the  palace  of  the  ^Emilii,  to  which 
he  with  many  of  his  countrymen  had  been  attracted,  with 
the  object  of  collecting  whatever  remnants  of  furniture 
might  be  left  by  the  flames.  I  had  fallen  by  the  edge  of  a 
fountain,  which  extinguished  the  fire  in  its  vicinage,  and  I 
was  found  breathing.  During  three  days  I  had  lain  in- 
sensible. The  Jew  now  went  out,  and  brought  back  with 
him  some  of  the  elders  of  our  people,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  decree  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  had  remained  in  Rome, 
though  an  increased  privacy.  I  was  carried  to  their  house 
of  assemblage,  concealed  among  groves  and  vineyards 
beyond  the  gates;  and  attended  to  with  a  care  which  might 
cure  all  things  but  the  wounds  of  the  mind.  On  the  great 


156  SALATHIEL. 

object  of  my  solicitude,  the  fate  of  my  Salome,  I  could 
obtain  no  relief.  I  wandered  over  the  site  of  the  palace ;  it 
was  now  a  mass  of  ashes  and  charcoal ;  its  ruins  had  been 
probed  by  hundreds;  but  search  for  even  a  trace  of  what 
would  have  been  to  me  dearer  than  a  mountain  of  gold,  was 
in  vain. 

The  conflagration  continued  for  six  days ;  and  every  day 
of  the  number  gave  birth  to  some  monstrous  report  of  its 
origin.  Of  the  fourteen  districts  of  Home,  but  four  re- 
mained. Thousands  had  lost  their  lives,  tens  of  thousands 
were  utterly  undone; — the  whole  empire  shook  under  the 
blow. — Then  came  the  still  deeper  horror. 

Fear  makes  the  individual  feeble,  but  it  makes  the  multi- 
tude ferocious.  A  universal  cry  arose  for  revenge.  Great 
public  misfortunes  give  the  opportunity  that  the  passions 
of  men  and  sects  love ;  and  the  fiercest  crimes  of  selfishness 
are  justified  under  the  name  of  retribution. 

But  the  full  calamity  burst  on  the  Christians,  then  too 
new  to  have  fortified  themselves  in  the  national  prejudices, 
if  they  would  have  suffered  the  alliance ;  too  poor  to  reckon 
on  any  powerful  protectors;  and  too  uncompromising  to 
palliate  their  scorn  of  the  whole  public  system  of  morals, 
philosophy  and  religion.  The  emperor,  the  priesthood,  and 
the  populace  conspired  against  them,  and  they  were  ordered 
to  the  slaughter.  I  too  had  ray  stimulants  to  hatred. 
Where  was  I?  in  exile,  in  desperate  hazard; — I  had  been 
torn  from  home,  robbed  of  my  child,  made  miserable  by  the 
fear  of  apostasy  in  my  house ;  and  by  whom  was  this  com- 
prehensive evil  done?  The  name  of  Christian  was  gall  to 
me.  I  heard  of  the  popular  vengeance,  and  called  it  jus- 
tice ;  I  saw  the  distant  fires  in  which  the  Christians  were  con- 
suming, and  calculated  how  many  each  night  of  those  hor- 
rors would  abstract  from  the  guilty  number.  Man  becomes 
cruel  by  the  sight  of  cruelty ;  and  when  thousands  and  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  were  shouting  for  vengeance;  when 
every  face  looked  fury,  and  every  tongue  was  wild  with  some 
new  accusation ;  when  the  great  and  the  little,  the  philoso- 
pher and  the  ignorant,  raised  up  one  roar  of  reprobation 
against  the  Christian,  was  the  solitary  man  of  mercy  to  be 
looked  for  in  one  bleeding  from  head  to  foot  with  wrongs 
irreparable  ? 

On  one  of  those  dreadful  nights,  I  was  gazing  from  the 


8ALAT3IEL.  157 

house-top  on  the  fire  forcing  its  way  through  the  remain- 
ing quarters,  the  melancholy  gleams  through  the  country 
showing  the  extent  of  the  flight;  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
blackened  and  dreary  wastes  of  Rome,  the  spots  of  livid 
flame  where  the  Christians  were  perishing  at  the  pile ;  when 
I  was  summoned  to  a  consultation  below. 

A  Jew  had  just  brought  an  imperial  edict  proclaiming 
pardon  of  all  offences,  to  the  discoverer  of  Christians.  I 
would  not  have  purchased  my  life  by  the  life  of  a  dog.  But 
my  safety  was  important  to  the  Jewish  cause,  and  I  was 
pressed  on  every  side  by  arguments  of  the  wisdom,  nay,  the 
public  duty  of  accepting  freedom  on  any  terms.  And  what 
was  to  be  the  price  ? — the  life  of  criminals  long  obnoxious  to 
the  laws,  and  now  stained  beyond  mercy.  I  loathed  delay ; 
I  loathed  Rome ;  I  was  wild  to  return  to  the  great  cause  of 
my  country,  which  never  could  have  a  fairer  hope  than  now. 
An  emissary  was  sent  out;  money  soon  effected  the  dis- 
covery of  a  Christian  assemblage:  I  appeared  before  the 
praetor  with  my  documents,  and  brought  back  in  my  hand 
the  imperial  pardon,  given  with  the  greater  good-will,  as 
the  assemblage  chanced  to  comprehend  the  chiefs  of  the 
heres}r.  They  were  seized,  ordered  forthwith  to  the  pile, 
and  I  was  ordered  to  be  present  at  this  completion  of  my 
national  service. 

The  executions  were  in  the  gardens  of  the  imperial  palace 
which  had  been  thrown  open  by  Nero,  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  popularity  and  of  indulging  himself  with  the  dis- 
play of  death  at  the  slightest  personal  inconvenience.  The 
crowd  was  prodigious,  and  to  gratify  the  greatest  possible 
number  at  once,  those  murders  were  carried  on  in  different 
parts  of  the  gardens.  In  the  vineyard,  a  certain  portion 
were  to  be  crucified ;  in  the  orangery,  another  portion  were 
to  be  burnt;  in  the  pleasure-ground,  another  were  to  be 
torn  by  lions  and  tigers:  gladiators  were  to  be  let  loose; 
and  when  the  dusk  came  on  the  whole  of  the  space  was  to 
be  lighted  by  human  torches,  Christians  wrapped  in  folds 
of  linen  covered  with  pitch  and  bitumen,  and  thus  burning 
down  from  the  head  to  the  ground. 

I  was  horror-struck;  but  escape  was  now  impossible, 
and  I  must  go  through  the  whole  hideous  round.  With 
my  flesh  quivering,  my  ears  ringing,  my  eyes  dim,  I  was 
forced  to  see  miserable  beings,  men, — stay  women,  nay  in- 


158  8ALATBIEL. 

fants, — sewed  up  in  skins  of  beasts,  and  hunted  and  torn  to 
pieces  by  dogs;  old  men,  whose  hoary  hairs  might  have 
demanded  reverence  of  savages,  scourged,  racked,  and  nail- 
ed to  the  trees  to  die;  lovely  young  females,  creatures  of 
guileless  hearts  and  innocent  beauty,  flung  on  flaming  scaf- 
folds. And  this  was  the  work  of  man,  civilized  man,  in  the 
highest  civilization  of  the  arts,  the  manners,  and  the  learn- 
ing of  the  pagan  world. 

But  the  grand  display  was  prepared  for  the  time  when 
those  Christians  who  had  been  denounced  on  my  discovery 
were  to  be  executed;  an  exhibition  at  which  the  emperor 
himself  announced  his  intention  to  be  present.  The  great 
Circus  was  no  more;  but  a  temporary  amphitheatre  had 
been  erected,  in  which  the  usual  games  were  exhibited 
during  the  early  part  of  the  day.  At  the  hour  of  my 
arrival,  the  low  bank  circling  this  immense  inclosure  was 
filled  with  the  first  names  of  Rome, — knights,  patricians, 
senators,  military  tribunes,  consuls;  the  emperor  alone 
was  wanting  to  complete  the  representative  majesty  of  the 
empire.  I  was  to  form  a  part  of  the  ceremony,  and  the 
guard  who  had  me  in  charge  cleared  the  way  to  a  con- 
spicuous place,  where  my  national  dress  fixed  every  eye  on 
me.  Several  Christians  had  perished  before  my  arrival. 
Their  remains  lay  on  the  ground,  and  in  their  midst  stood 
the  man  who  was  to  be  the  next  victim.  By  what  influence 
I  know  not,  but  never  did  I  see  a  human  being  who  made 
on  me  so  deep  an  impression.  I  have  him  before  me  at  this 
instant. 

The  victims  had  been  generally  offered  life,  for  recanta- 
tion ;  and  this  man  was  giving  his  reply.  I  see  the  figure ; 
low,  yet  with  an  air  of  nobleness;  stooped  a  little  with 
venerable  age ;  but  the  countenance,  full  of  life,  and  marked 
with  all  the  traits  of  intellectual  power,  the  strongly  aqui- 
line nose,  the  bold  lip,  the  large  and  rapid  eye;  the  whole 
man  conveying  the  idea  of  an  extraordinary  permanence  of 
early  vigor  under  the  weight  of  labor  or  of  years.  Even 
the  hair  was  thick  and  black,  with  scarcely  a  touch  of  silver. 
If  the  place  and  time  were  Athens,  and  the  era  of  Demos- 
thenes, I  should  have  said  that  Demosthenes  stood  before 
me.  The  vivid  action ;  the  flashing  rapidity  with  which  ho 
seized  a  new  idea,  and  compressed  it  to  his  purpose;  the 
impetuous  argument  that,  throwing  off  the  formality  of 


SALATB1EL.  159 

logic,  smote  with  the  strength  of  a  new  fact,  were  Demos- 
thenic. Even  a  certain  infirmity  of  utterance,  and  an 
occasional  slight  difficulty  of  words,  added  to  the  likeness; 
but  there  was  a  hallowed  glance,  and  a  solemn  yet  tender 
reach  of  thought,  interposed  among  those  intense  appeals, 
that  asserted  the  sacred  superiority  of  the  subject  and  the 
man.  He  was  already  speaking,  when  I  reached  the  scene 
of  terrors.  I  can  give  but  an  outline  of  his  language. 

He  pointed  to  the  headless  bodies  around  him. 

"For  what  have  these  my  brethren  died?  Answer  me, 
priests  of  Eome;  what  temple  did  they  force — what  altar 
overthrow — what  insults  offer  to  the  slightest  of  your  public 
celebrations  ?  Judges  of  Eome,  what  offence  did  they  com- 
mit against  the  public  peace?  Consuls,  where  were  they 
found  in  rebellion  against  the  Eoman  majesty  ?  People  of 
Eome,  who  among  your  thousands  can  charge  one  of  these 
holy  dead  with  extortion,  impurity,  or  violence ;  can  charge 
them  with  anything  but  the  patience  that  bore  wrong  with- 
out a  murmur,  and  the  charity  that  answered  torture  only 
by  prayer?" 

He  then  touched  upon  the  nature  of  his  faith. 

"Do  I  stand  here  demanding  to  be  believed  for  opinions  ? 
No;  but  for  facts.  I  have  seen  the  sick  made  whole,  the 
lame  walk,  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  by  the  mere  name 
of  Him  whom  you  crucified.  I  have  seen  men,  once 
ignorant  of  all  languages  but  their  own,  speaking  with  the 
language  of  every  nation  under  heaven; — the  still  greater 
wonder,  of  the  timid  defying  all  fear,  the  unlearned  instant- 
ly made  wise  in  the  mysteries  of  things  divine  and  human, 
the  peasant  putting  to  shame  the  learned — awing  the  proud 
— enlightening  the  darkened ;  alike  in  the  courts  of  kings, 
before  the  furious  people,  and  in  the  dungeon  armed  with 
an  irrepressible  spirit  of  knowledge,  reason,  and  truth,  that 
confounded  their  adversaries.  I  have  seen  the  still  greater 
wonder  of  the  renewed  heart ;  the  impure  suddenly  abjuring 
vice;  the  covetous,  the  cruel,  the  faithless,  the  godless 
gloriously  changed  into  the  holy,  the  gentle,  the  faithful, 
worshippers  of  the  true  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth — the  con- 
quest of  the  passions  which  defied  your  philosophers,  your 
tribunals,  your  rewards,  and  your  terrors,  achieved  in  the 
one  mighty  name.  Those  are  facts,  things  which  I  have 
seen  with  these  eyes;  and  who  that  had  seen  them  could 


1GO  SALATHIEL, 

doubt  that  the  finger  of  God  was  there?  Dared  I  refuse 
ray  belief  to  the  divine  mission  of  the  Being  by  whom,  and 
even  in  memory  of  whom,  things  baffling  the  proudest 
human  means  were  wrought  before  my  senses  ?  Irresistibly 
compelled  by  facts  to  believe  that  Christ  was  sent  by  God, 
I  was  with  equal  force  compelled  to  believe  in  the  doctrines 
declared  by  that  glorious  revealer  of  the  King  alike  of  quick 
and  dead.  And  thus  I  stand  before  you  this  day,  at  the 
close  of  a  long  life  of  labor  and  love,  a  Christian." 

This  appeal  to  the  understanding,  divested  as  it  was  of 
all  studied  ornament,  was  listened  to  by  the  immense  mul- 
titude with  the  most  unbroken  interest.  It  was  delivered 
with  the  strong  simplicity  of  conviction.  He  then  spoke  of 
the  Founder  of  his  faith. 

"Men  may  be  insane  for  opinions ;  but  who  can  be  insane 
for  facts?  The  coming  of  Christ  was  prophesied  a  thou- 
sand years  before !  From  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  he 
lived  wholly  before  the  eyes  of  mankind.  His  life  corres- 
ponds with  the  prophecies  in  circumstances  totally  beyond 
human  conjecture,  contrivance,  or  power.  The  virgin 
mother,  the  village  in  which  he  was  born,  the  lowliness  of 
his  cradle,  the  worship  paid  to  him  there,  the  hazard  of  his 
life — all  were  predicted.  Could  the  infant  have  shaped 
the  accomplishment  of  those  predictions?  The  death  that 
he  should  die,  the  hands  by  which  it  was  to  be  inflicted,  even 
the  draught  that  he  should  drink,  the  raiment  that  he 
should  be  clothed  in,  and  the  sepulchre  in  which  he 
should  be  laid,  were  predicted.  Could  the  man  have  shaped 
their  accomplishment?  The  time  of  his  resting  in  the 
tomb,  his  resurrection,  his  ascent  to  heaven,  the  sending  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  after  he  was  gone ;  all  were  predicted ! 
all  were  beyond  human  collusion,  human  power,  even 
beyond  human  thought, — all  were  accomplished !  Is  not 
here  the  finger  of  God  ? 

"Those  things,  too,  were  universally  known  to  the  nation 
most  competent  to  detect  collusion.  Did  Christ  come  to 
Rome,  where  every  new  religion  finds  adherents,  and  where 
all  pretensions  might  be  advanced  without  fear;  where  a 
deceiver  might  have  quoted  prophecies  that  never  existed, 
and  vaunted  of  wonders  done,  where  there  was  no  eye  to 
detect  them?  No!  his  life  was  spent  in  Judea.  He  made 
his  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  in  a  country  where  they  we.ro 


SAL  AT  HI  EL.  161 

in  the  hands  of  the  nation.  His  miracles  were  wrought 
before  the  eyes  of  a  priesthood  that  watched  him  step  by 
step ;  his  doctrines  were  spoken,  not  to  the  mingled  multi- 
tude of  man,  holding  a  thousand  varieties  of  opinion,  and 
careless  of  all,  but  to  an  exclusive  race,  subtle  in  their  in- 
quiries, eager  in  their  zeal,  and  proud  of  their  peculiar 
possession  of  divine  knowledge. 

"Yet,  against  his  life,  his  miracles,  or  his  doctrine,  what 
charge  could  they  bring?  None.  There  is  not  a  single 
stigma  on  the  purity  of  his  conduct;  the  power  of  his 
wonder-working  control  over  man  and  nature ;  the  holiness, 
wisdom,  and  grandeur  of  his  views  of  Providence;  the 
truth,  charity,  and  meekness  of  his  counsels  to  man.  Their 
single  source  of  hatred  was  the  pride  of  worldly  hearts,  that 
expected  a  king  where  they  were  to  have  found  a  teacher. 

"They  crucified  him;  he  died  in  prayer,  that  his  mur- 
derers might  be  forgiven;  and  his  prayer  was  mightily 
answered.  He  had  scarcely  risen  to  his  eternal  throne, 
when  thousands  believed,  and  were  forgiven.  To  him  be 
the  glory,  forever  and  ever !" 

All  this  was  heard  in  wonder.  I  could  see  eyes  lifted  to 
heaven,  and  lips  as  if  moved  in  prayer ! 

"Compare  him  with  your  legislators.  He  gives  the  spirit 
of  all  law  in  a  single  sentence — 'Do  unto  others  as  you 
would  they  should  do  unto  you.'  Compare  him  with  your 
priesthood.  He  gives  a  single  prayer,  containing  the  sub- 
stance of  all  that  man  can  rationally  implore  of  Heaven. 
Compare  him  with  your  moralists.  He  lays  the  foundation 
of  virtue  in  love  to  God !  Compare  him  with  your  sages. 
He  leads  a  life  of  privation  without  a  murmur :  he  dies  a 
death  of  shame,  desertion,  and  agony;  and  his  last  breath 
is  mercy !  Compare  him  with  your  conquerors.  Without 
the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood,  he  has  already  conquered 
hosts  that  would  have  resisted  all  the  swords  of  earth ;  hosts 
of  stubborn  passions,  cherished  vices,  guilty  perversions  of 
the  powers  and  faculties  of  man.  In  proof  of  all,  look  on 
these  glorious  dead,  whom  I  shall  join  before  the  set  of 
yonder  sun.  Yes,  martyrs  of  God !  ye  were  his  conquests ; 
and  ye  too  are  more  than  conquerors,  through  Him  that 
loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us.  But  a  triumph  shall 
come,  magnificent  and  terrible,  when  all  eyes  shall  behold 
Him;  and  the  tribes  of  the  earth,  even  they  who  pierced 
ij  shall  mourn." 


162  8ALATBIEL. 

Some  raged ;  more  listened ;  many  wept.  He  spoke  with 
still  loftier  energy. 

"Then  rejoice,  ye  dead!  for  ye  shall  rise;  ye  shall  be 
clothed  with  glory;  ye  shall  be  as  the  angels,  bright  and 
powerful,  immortal,  intellectual  kings  !  'For  though  worms 
destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God.'  *  —He 
paused  as  if  he  saw  the  vision. 

The  sky  was  cloudless;  the  sun  was  in  the  west,  but 
shining  in  his  broadest  beams ;  the  whole  space  before  me 
was  flooded  with  his  light;  when,  as  I  gazed  upon  the 
martyr,  I  saw  a  gleam  issue  from  his  upturned  face;  it 
increased  to  brightness,  to  radiance,  to  an  intense  lustre, 
that  made  the  sunlight  utterly  pale.  All  was  astonishment 
in  the  amphitheatre,  but  all  was  awe.  The  old  man  seemed 
unconscious  of  the  wonder  that  invested  him.  He  con- 
tinued with  his  open  hands  lifted  up,  and  his  eyes  fixed  on 
heaven.  The  glory  spread  over  his  form;  and  he  stood 
before  us  robed  in  an  effulgence  which  shot  from  him,  like 
a  living  fount  of  splendor,  round  the  colossal  circle.  Yet 
the  blaze,  though  it  looked  the  very  essence  of  light,  was 
strangely  translucent;  we  could  see  with  undazzled  eyes 
every  feature ;  and  whether  it  was  the  working  of  my  over- 
whelmed mind,  or  a  true  change,  the  countenance  appeared 
to  have  passed  at  once  from  age  to  youth.  A  lofty  joy,  a 
look  of  supernal  grandeur,  a  magnificent  yet  ethereal 
beauty,  had  transformed  the  features  of  the  old  man  into 
the  likeness  of  the  winged  sons  of  Immortality ! 

He  spoke  again ;  and  the  first  sound  of  his  voice  thrilled 
through  every  bosom,  and  made  every  man  start  from  his 
seat. 

"Men  and  brethren !  it  is  the  desire  of  your  Father,  that 
all  should  be  saved — Jew  and  Gentile  alike ;  for  with  Him 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  He  is  the  Father  of  all ! 
Christianity  is  not  a  philosophic  dream,  but  a  divine  com- 
mand— the  summons  of  the  God  of  gods,  that  you  should 
accept  His  mercy — the  opening  of  the  gates  of  an  eternal 
world  !  It  is  not  a  call  to  the  practice  of  barren  virtue,  but 
a  declaration  of  reward  mightier  than  the  imagination  of 
man  can  conceive.  Would  you  be  immortals — would  you 
be  glorious  as  the  stars  of  heaven — would  you  possess 
eternal  faculties  of  happiness,  supremacy,  and  knowledge  ? 
A,gk  for  forgiveness  of  your  evil,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of 


SALATHIEL.  163 

Nazareth!  What  is  easier  than  the  price? — what  more 
transcendent  than  the  reward  ?  Who  shall  tell  the  limit  of 
the  risen  soul? — What  resistless  power — what  more  than 
regal  majesty — what  celestial  beauty  may  be  in  his  frame ! — 
what  expansion  of  intellect — what  overflowing  tides  of  new 
sensation — what  shapes  of  loveliness — what  radiant  stores 
of  thought,  and  mysteries  of  exhaustless  knowledge,  may  be 
treasured  for  him !  what  endless  ascent  through  new  ranks 
of  being,  each  as  much  more  glorious  than  the  last,  as  the 
risen  spirit  is  above  man ! — For  what  can  be  the  limit  to 
the  power  of  God  to  make  those  happy,  glorious,  and 
mighty,  whom  He  will? — For  what  can  be  the  bound  to 
the  fellow-heirs  with  Christ,  their  leader  in  trial,  their 
leader  in  triumph?  Omnipotence  for  their  protector,  for 
their  friend,  for  their  father!  He  who  gave  to  us  his 
own  Son,  will  He  not  with  Him  give  us  all  things  ?" 

The  voice  sank  into  prayer. 

"King  of  kings !  if  through  a  long  life,  I  have  labored 
in  thy  cause,  in  perils  of  waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in 
perils  by  mine  own  countrymen,  in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in 
perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the 
sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren ;  in  weariness  and  pain- 
fulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  cold 
and  nakedness ;  thine  alone  be  the  praise,  who  hast  brought 
me  through  them  all,  with  a  strong  hand  and  an  outstretch- 
ed arm.  And  now,  Lord !  thou  who  shalt  change  my  vile 
body  into  the  likeness  of  thy  glorious  body,  be  with  thy 
servant  in  this  last  hour ! — Saviour  and  God !  receive  my 
spirit ;  that  where  Thou  art,  even  I  may  be  with  Thee !" 

He  was  silent :  the  splendor  gradually  passed  away  from 
his  form;  and  he  knelt  upon  the  sand,  bowing  down  his 
neck  to  receive  the  blow.  But  to  lift  a  hand  against  such 
a  being  seemed  now  an  act  of  profanation.  The  axe-bearer 
dared  not  approach.  The  spectators  sat  hushed  in  involun- 
tary homage.  Not  a  word,  not  a  gesture,  broke  the  silence 
of  involuntary  veneration. 

At  length,  a  flourish  of  distant  trumpets  was  heard. 
Cavalry  galloped  forward,  announcing  the  emperor;  and 
Nero,  habited  as  a  charioteer  in  the  games,  drove  his  gilded 
car  into  the  arena.  The  Christian  had  risen ;  and  with  his 
hands  clasped  upon  his  breast,  was  awaiting  death.  Nero 
cast  the  headsman  an  execration  at  his  tardiness;  the  axe 


164  8ALATHIEL. 

swept  round ;  and  when  I  glanced  again,  the  old  man  lay 
beside  his  brethren ! 

This  man  I  had  sacrificed.  My  heart  smote  me :  I  would 
have  fled  the  place  of  blood,  but  I  was  in  the  midst  of 
guards:  more  of  my  victims  were  to  be  slain ;  and  I  must  be 
the  shrinking  witness  of  all.  The  emperor's  arrival  com- 
menced the  grand  display.  He  took  his  place  under  the 
curtains  of  the  royal  pavilion.  The  dead  were  removed; 
perfumes  were  scattered  through  the  air;  rose-water  was 
sprinkled  from  silver  tubes  upon  the  exhausted  multitude ; 
music  resounded;  incense  burned;  and,  in  the  midst  of 
those  preparations  of  luxury,  the  lion-combat  began. 

A  portal  of  the  arena  opened,  and  the  combatant,  with  a 
mantle  thrown  over  his  face  and  figure,  was  led  in,  sur- 
rounded by  soldiery.  The  lion  roared,  and  ramped  against 
the  bars  of  its  den  at  the  sight.  The  guard  put  a  sword 
and  buckler  into  the  hands  of  the  Christian,  and  he  was  left 
alone.  He  drew  the  mantle  from  his  face,  and  bent  a  slow 
and  firm  look  round  the  amphitheatre.  His  fine  counte- 
nance and  lofty  bearing  raised  a  universal  sound  of  admira- 
tion. He  might  have  stood  for  an  Apollo  encountering  the 
Python.  His  eye  at  last  turned  on  mine.  Could  I  be- 
lieve my  senses  ?  Constantius  was  before  me  ! 

All  my  rancor  vanished.  In  the  moment  before  I  could 
have  struck  the  betrayer  to  the  heart.  But,  to  see  him 
hopelessly  doomed;  the  man  whom  I  had  honored  for  his 
noble  qualities,  whom  I  had  even  loved,  whose  crime  was 
at  worst  but  the  crime  of  giving  way  to  the  strongest  temp- 
tation that  can  bewilder  man;  to  see  this  noble  creature 
flung  to  the  savage  beast,  torn  piecemeal  before  my  eyes — 
I  would  have  cried  to  earth  and  heaven  to  save  him.  But 
my  tongue  cleaved  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth.  I  would  have 
thrown  myself  at  the  feet  of  Nero;  but  I  sat  like  a  man 
of  stone,  pale,  paralyzed — the  beating  of  my  pulses  stopped 
— my  eyes  alone  alive. 

The  gate  of  the  den  was  now  thrown  back,  and  the  lion 
rushed  in  with  a  roar,  and  a  bound  that  bore  him  half 
across  the  arena.  I  saw  the  sword  glitter  in  the  air ;  when 
it  waved  again,  it  was  covered  with  blood,  and  a  howl 
told  that  the  blow  had  been  driven  home.  The  lion,  one 
of  the  largest  from  Numidia,  and  made  furious  by  thirst 
and  hunger,  an  animal  of  prodigious  power,  crouched  for 


BALATHIEL.  165 

an  instant  as  if  to  make  sure  of  his  prey,  crept  a  few- 
paces  onward,  and  sprang  at  the  victim's  throat.  He  was 
met  by  a  second  wound;  but  his  impulse  was  irresistible, 
and  Constantius  was  flung  upon  the  ground.  A  cry  of 
natural  horror  rang  round  the  amphitheatre.  The  struggle 
was  now  for  instant  life  or  death.  They  rolled  over  each 
other;  the  lion  reared  on  its  hind  feet,  and,  with  gnashing 
teeth  and  distended  talons,  plunged  on  the  man ;  again  they 
fell  and  rose  together.  Anxiety  was  now  at  its  wildest 
height.  The  sword  swung  round  the  champion's  head  in 
bloody  circles.  The  hand  of  Constantius  had  grasped  the 
lion's  mane,  and  the  furious  bounds  of  the  monster  could 
not  loose  his  hold;  but  his  strength  was  evidently  giving 
way;  he  still  struck  terrible  blows,  but  each  was  weaker 
than  the  one  before;  till,  collecting  his  whole  force  for  a 
last  effort,  he  darted  one  mighty  blow  into  the  lion's  throat, 
and  sank.  The  savage  yelled,  and  spouting  out  blood,  fled 
bellowing  round  the  arena.  But  the  hand  still  grasped  the 
mane ;  and  his  conqueror  was  dragged  whirling  through  the 
dust  at  his  heels.  A  uriversal  outcry  now  arose,  to  save 
him,  if  he  were  not  already  dead.  But  the  lion,  though 
bleeding  from  the  vein,  was  still  too  terrible;  and  all 
shrank  from  the  hazard.  At  length  the  grasp  gave  way, 
and  the  body  lay  motionless  upon  the  ground. 

What  happened  for  some  moments  after  I  know  not. 
There  was  a  struggle  at  the  portal;  a  female  forced  her 
way  through  the  guards,  rushed  in  alone,  and  flung  her- 
self upon  the  victim.  The  sight  of  a  new  prey  roused  the 
lion;  he  tore  the  ground  with  his  talons;  he  lashed  his 
streaming  sides  with  his  tail ;  he  lifted  up  his  mane,  and 
bared  his  fangs.  But  he  came  no  longer  with  a  bound ;  he 
dreaded  the  sword,  and  crept,  snuffing  the  blood  on  the 
sand,  and  stealing  round  the  body  in  circuits  still  dimin- 
ishing. 

The  confusion  in  the  vast  assemblage  was  now  extreme. 
Voices  innumerable  called  for  aid.  Women  screamed  and 
fainted.  Even  the  hard  hearts  of  the  populace,  accustomed 
as  they  were  to  the  sacrifice  of  life,  were  roused  to  honest 
curses.  The  guards  grasped  their  arms,  and  waited  but 
for  a  sign  of  mercy  from  the  emperor.  But  Nero  gave  no 
sign.  I  glanced  upon  the  woman's  face.  It  was  Salome ! 
I  sprang  upon  my  feet.  I  called  on  her  name ;  I  implored 


166  BALATHIEL. 

her  to  fly  from  that  place  of  death,  to  come  to  my  helpless 
arms,  to  think  of  the  agonies  of  all  who  loved  her. 

She  had  raised  the  head  of  Constantius  on  her  knee,  and 
was  wiping  the  pale  visage  with  her  hair.  At  the  sound  of 
my  voice  she  looked  up,  and  calmly  casting  back  the  locks 
from  her  forehead,  fixed  her  gaze  upon  me.  She  still  knelt ; 
one  hand  supported  the  head,  with  the  other  she  pointed 
to  it,  as  her  only  answer.  I  again  adjured  her.  The™ 
was  the  silence  of  death  among  the  thousands  round  me. 
A  sudden  fire  flashed  into  her  eye — her  cheek  burned.  She 
waved  her  hand,  with  an  air  of  superb  sorrow. 

"I  am  come  to  die,"  she  uttered,  in  a  lofty  tone.  "This 
bleeding  body  was  my  husband.  I  have  no  father.  The 
world  contains  to  me  but  this  clay  in  my  arms.  Yet,"  and 
she  kissed  the  ashy  lips  before  her,  "yet,  my  Constantius, 
it  was  to  save  that  father  that  your  generous  heart  defied 
the  peril  of  this  hour.  It  was  to  redeem  him  from  the 
hand  of  evil,  that  you  abandoned  our  quiet  home ! — yes, 
cruel  father,  here  lies  the  preserver  who  threw  open  your 
dungeon,  who  led  you  safe  through  conflagration,  who,  to 
the  last  moment  of  hib  liberty,  only  thought  how  he  might 
protect  you."  Tears  at  length  fell  in  floods  from  her 
eyes.  "But,"  said  she,  in  a  tone  of  wild  power,  "he  was  be- 
trayed; and  may  the  Power  whose  thunders  avenge  the 
cause  of  His  people,  pour  down  just  retribution  upon  the 
head  that  dared " 

I  heard  my  own  condemnation  about  to  be  unconscious- 
ly pronounced  by  the  lips  of  my  child.  Wound  up  to  the. 
last  degree  of  suffering,  I  tore  my  way,  leaped  on  the  bars 
before  me,  and  plunged  into  the  arena  by  her  side.  The 
height  was  stunning;  I  tottered  forward  a  few  paces,  and 
fell.  The  lion  gave  a  roar,  and  sprang  upon  me.  I  lay 
helpless  under  him — I  felt  his  fiery  breath — I  saw  his 
lurid  eye  glaring — I  heard  the  gnashing  of  his  white 
fangs  above  me 

An  exulting  shout  arose.  I  saw  him  reel  as  if  struck — 
gore  filled  his  jaws.  Another  mighty  blow  was  driven 
to  his  heart.  He  sprang  high  in  air  with  a  howl.  Ho 
dropped — he  was  dead !  The  amphitheatre  thundered 
with  acclamation. 

With  Salome  clinging  to  my  bosom,  Constantius  raised 
me  from  the  ground.  The  roar  of  the  lion  had  roused  him 


8ALATHIEL.  167 

from  his  swoon,  and  two  blows  saved  me.  The  falchion 
was  broken  in  the  heart  of  the  monster.  The  whole  multi- 
tude stood  up,  supplicating  for  our  lives,  in  the  name  of 
filial  piety  and  heroism.  Nero,  devil  as  he  was,  dared  not 
resist  the  strength  of  the  popular  feeling:  he  waved  a 
signal  to  the  guards ;  the  portal  was  opened ;  and  my  chil- 
dren, sustaining  my  feeble  steps,  and  showered  with  gar- 
lands and  ornaments  from  innumerable  hands,  slowly  led 
me  from  the  arena. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  first  rage  of  the  persecution  was  at  an  end;  the 
popular  thirst  of  blood  was  satiated.  The  natural  admira- 
tion that  follows  fortitude  and  innocence,  and  the  natural 
hatred  that  consigns  a  tyrant  to  the  execration  of  his  time 
and  of  posterity,  found  their  way ;  and  Nero  dared  murder 
no  more.  I  voluntarily  shared  the  prison  of  Constantius 
and  my  child.  Its  doors  were  now  set  open.  The  liber- 
ality of  my  people  supplied  the  means  of  returning  to 
Judea,  and  we  hastened  down  the  Tiber,  in  the  first  vessel 
that  spread  her  sails  from  this  throne  of  desolation. 

The  chances  that  had  brought  us  together  were  soon 
explained.  Salome,  urged  to  desperation  by  the  near  ap- 
proach of  her  marriage,  and  solicited  to  save  herself  from 
the  perjury  of  vowing  her  love  to  one  unpossessed  of  her 
heart,  had  flown  with  Constantius  to  Caesarea.  The  only 
person  in  their  confidence  was  the  domestic,  who  betrayed 
me  into  the  hands  of  the  procurator,  and  who  assisted  them 
only  that  he  might  lure  me  from  home. 

At  Caesarea  they  were  wedded,  and  remained  in  conceal- 
ment, under  the  protection  of  the  young  Septimius.  My 
transmission  to  Rome  struck  them  with  terror,  and  Con- 
stantius instantly  embarked,  to  save  me  by  his  Italian 
influence.  The  attempt  was  surrounded  with  peril;  but 
Salome  would  not  be  left  behind.  Disguised,  to  avoid  my 
possible  refusal  of  life  at  his  hands,  he  followed  me,  step 
by  step.  There  were  many  of  our  people  among  the  attend- 
ants, and  even  in  the  higher  offices,  of  the  court.  The  em- 
press had,  in  her  reproaches  to  Nero,  disclosed  the  new 
barbarity  of  my  sentence.  No  time  was  to  be  lost.  Con- 


168  SALATHIEL. 

stantius,  at  the  imminent  hazard  of  life,  entered  the  palace. 
He  saw  the  block  already  erected  in  the  garden  before  the 
window,  where  Nero  sat  inventing  a  melody  which  was  to 
grace  my  departure.  The  confusion  of  the  fire  offered  the 
only  escape.  I  was  witness  to  his  consternation,  when  he 
made  so  many  fruitless  efforts  to  penetrate  to  the  place 
where  Salome  remained,  in  the  care  of  his  relatives.  When 
I  scaled  the  burning  mansion,  he  desperately  followed,  lo.-i 
his  way  among  the  ruins,  and  was  giving  up  all  hope,  when, 
wrapped  in  fire  and  smoke,  Salome  fell  at  his  feet.  He  bore 
her  to  another  mansion  of  his  family.  It  had  given  shelter 
to  the  chief  Christians.  They  were  seized.  His  young  wife 
scorned  to  survive  Constantius;  and  chance,  and  my  own 
fortunate  desperation,  alone  saved  me  from  seeing  their 
martyrdom. 

We  returned  to  Judea.  In  the  first  embrace  of  my 
family  all  was  forgotten  and  forgiven.  My  brother  re- 
joiced in  Salome's  happiness ;  and  even  her  rejected  kins- 
man, through  all  his  reluctance,  acknowledged  the  claims 
of  him  to  the  daughter's  hand  who  had  saved  the  life  of 
the  father. 

What  perception  of  health  is  ever  so  exquisite  as  when 
we  first  rise  from  the  bed  of  sickness?  What  enjoyment 
of  the  heart  is  so  full  of  delight  as  that  which  follows  ex- 
treme suffering?  I  had  but  just  escaped  the  most  formid- 
able personal  hazards ;  I  had  escaped  the  still  deeper  suffer- 
ing of  seeing  ruin  fall  on  beings  whom  I  would  have  died 
to  rescue.  Salome's  heart,  overflowing  with  happiness, 
gave  new  brightness  to  her  eyes,  and  new  animation  to  her 
lovely  form.  She  danced  with  involuntary  joy;  she  sang, 
she  laughed ;  her  fancy  kindled  into  a  thousand  sparklings. 
Beautiful  being !  in  my  visions  thou  art  still  before  me.  I 
clasp  thee  to  my  widowed  heart,  and  hear  thy  sweet  voice, 
sweeter  than  the  fountain  in  the  desert  to  the  pilgrim, 
cheering  me  in  the  midst  of  my  more  than  pilgrimage! 

An  accession  of  opulence  gave  the  only  increase,  if  in- 
crease could  be  given,  to  the  happiness  that  seemed  within 
my  reach.  The  year  of  Jubilee  arrived.  Abolished  as  the 
chief  customs  of  Judea  had  been  by  the  weakness  and  guilt 
of  idolatrous  kings  and  generations,  they  were  still  observed 
by  all  who  honored  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  The  law 
of  Jubilee  was  sacred  in  our  mountains :  it  was  the  law  of 
a  wisdom  and  benevolence  above  man. 


SALATHIEL.  169 

Its  peculiar  adaptation  of  Israel,  its  provision  for  the 
virtue  and  happiness  of  the  individual,  and  its  safeguard 
of  the  public  strength  and  constitutional  integrity,  were 
unrivalled  amongst  the  finest  ordinances  of  the  ancient 
world. 

On  the  entrance  of  the  Israelites  into  Canaan,  the  land 
was  divided,  by  the  inspired  command,  among  the  tribes, 
according  to  their  numbers.  To  each  family  a  portion  was 
assigned,  as  a  gift  from  Heaven.  The  gift  was  to  be  in- 
alienable. The  estate  might  be  sold  for  a  period;  but,  at 
the  fiftieth  year,  in  the  evening  of  the  day  of  Atonement, 
in  the  month  of  Tisri,  the  sound  of  the  trumpets  from  the 
Sanctuary,  echoed  by  thousands  of  voices  from  every  moun- 
tain-top, proclaimed  the  Jubilee.  Then  returned,  without 
purchase,  every  family  to  its  original  possessions.  All  the 
more  abject  degradations  of  poverty,  the  wearing  out  of 
families,  the  hopeless  ruin,  were  obviated  by  this  great  law. 
The  most  undone  being  in  the  limits  of  Judea  had  still  a 
hold  in  the  land.  His  ruin  could  not  be  final,  perhaps 
could  not  extend  beyond  a  few  years ;  in  the  last  extremity 
he  could  not  be  scorned,  as  one  whose  birthright  was  ex- 
tinguished ;  the  Jubilee  was  to  raise  him  up,  and  place  the 
outcast  in  the  early  rank  of  the  sons  of  Israel.  All  the 
higher  feelings  were  cherished  by  this  incomparable  hope. 
The  man,  conscious  of  his  future  possession,  retained  the 
honorable  pride  of  property  under  the  sternest  privations. 
The  time  was  hurrying  on,  when  he  should  stand  on  an 
equality  with  mankind,  when  his  worn  spirit  should  begin 
the  world  again  with  fresh  vigor,  if  he  were  young;  or, 
when  he  should  sit  under  the  vine  and  the  fig-tree  of  his 
fathers,  if  his  age  refused  again  to  struggle  for  the  distinc- 
tions of  the  world. 

The  agrarian  law  of  Borne  and  Sparta,  feeble  efforts  to 
establish  this  true  foundation  of  personal  and  political 
vigor,  showed  at  once  the  natural  impulse,  and  the  weak 
performance,  of  human  wisdom.  The  Eoman  plunged  the 
people  in  furious  dissensions,  and  perished  almost  in  its 
birth.  The  Spartan  was  secured  for  a  time,  only  by  bar- 
barian prohibitions  of  money  and  commerce — a  code  which 
raised  an  iron  wall  against  civilization,  turned  the  people 
into  a  perpetual  soldiery,  and  finally,  by  the  mere  result 
of  perpetual  war,  overthrew  liberty,  dominion,  and  name. 


170  8ALATHIEL. 

The  Jubilee  was  for  a  peculiar  people,  restricted  by  a 
divine  interposition  from  increase  beyond  the  original 
number.  But  who  shall  say  how  far  the  same  benevolent 
interposition  might  not  have  been  extended  to  all  nations, 
if  they  had  revered  ihe  original  compact  of  Heaven  with 
man  ?  how  far  throughout  the  earth  the  provisions  for  each 
man's  wants  might  not  have  been  secured — the  overwhelm- 
ing superabundance  of  portionless  life  that  fills  the  world 
with  crime,  might  not  have  been  restrained ;  how  far  des- 
potism, that  growth  of  desperate  abjectness  of  the  under- 
standing and  gross  corruption  of  the  senses,  might  not  have 
been  repelled  by  manly  knowledge,  and  native  virtue? 
But  the  time  may  come. 

In  the  first  allotments  of  the  territory,  ample  domains 
had  been  appointed  for  the  princes  and  leaders  of  the 
tribes.  One  of  those  princedoms  now  returned  to  me,  and 
I  entered  upon  the  inheritance  of  the  leaders  of  Naphtali, 
a  large  extent  of  hill  and  valley,  rich  with  corn,  olive,  and 
vine.  The  antiquity  of  possession  gave  a  kind  of  hallowed 
and  monumental  interest  to  the  soil.  I  was  master  of  its 
wealth;  but  I  indulged  a  loftier  feeling,  in  the  recollec- 
tion of  those  who  had  trod  the  palace  and  the  plain  be- 
fore me.  Every  chamber  bore  the  trace  of  those  whom  the 
history  of  my  country  had  taught  me  to  reverence;  and 
often,  when  in  some  of  the  fragrant  evenings  of  summer 
I  have  flung  myself  among  the  thick  beds  of  bloom,  that 
spread  spontaneously  over  my  hills,  the  spirits  of  the  loved 
and  honored  seemed  to  gather  round  me.  I  saw  once  more 
the  matron  gravity,  and  the  virgin  grace;  even  the  more 
remote  generations,  those  great  progenitors  who  with  David 
fought  the  Philistine;  the  solemn  chieftains  who  with 
Joshua  followed  the  ark  of  the  covenant  through  toil  and 
battle  into  the  promised  land;  the  sainted  sages  who  wit- 
nessed the  giving  of  the  law,  and  worshipped  Him  who 
spake  in  thunder  from  Sinai ;  all  moved  before  me,  for  all 
had  trod  the  very  ground  on  which  I  gazed.  Could  I  trans- 
fer myself  back  to  their  time,  on  that  spot  I  should  stand 
among  a  living  circle  of  heroic  and  glorious  beings,  before 
whose  true  glory  the  pomps  of  earth  were  vain ;  the  hearers 
of  the  prophets  themselves;  the  servants  of  the  man  of 
miracle,  the  companions  of  tho  friend  of  God;  nay,  dis- 
tinction that  surpasses  human  thought,  themselves  the 
chosen  of  Heaven. 


SALATHIEL.  171 

The  cheering  occupations  of  rural  life  were  to  be  hence- 
forth pursued  on  a  scale  more  fitting  my  rank.  I  was  the 
chieftain  of  my  tribe,  the  man  by  whose  wisdom  multi- 
tudes were  to  be  guided ;  and  by  whose  benevolence  multi- 
tudes were  to  be  sustained.  I  felt  that  mingled  sense  of 
rank  and  responsibility  which,  with  the  vain,  the  ignorant, 
or  the  vicious,  is  the  strongest  temptation  to  excess;  but, 
with  the  honorable  and  intelligent,  constitutes  the  most 
pleasurable  and  the  most  elevated  state  of  the  human  mind. 

Yet  what  are  the  fortunes  of  man  but  a  ship  launched 
on  an  element  whose  essence  is  restlessness0  The  very 
wind,  without  which  we  cannot  move,  gathers  to  a  storm, 
and  we  are  undone !  The  tyranny  of  our  conquerors  had, 
for  a  few  months,  been  paralyzed  by  the  destruction  of 
Home.  But  the  governor  of  Judea  was  not  to  be  long 
withheld,  where  plunder  allured  the  most  furious  rapacity 
that  perhaps  ever  hungered  in  the  heart  of  man.  I  was  in 
the  midst  of  our  harvest,  surrounded  with  the  fruitage  of 
the  year,  and  enjoying  the  sights  and  sounds  of  patriarchal 
life,  when  I  received  the  formidable  summons  to  present 
myself  again  before  Florus.  Imprisonment  and  torture 
were  in  the  command.  He  had  heard  of  my  opulence,  and 
I  knew  how  little  his  insolent  cupidity  would  regard  the 
pardon  under  which  I  had  returned.  I  determined  to  re- 
tire into  the  mountains  and  defy  him. 

But  the  Roman  plunderer  had  the  activity  of  his  country- 
men. On  the  very  night  of  my  receiving  the  summons,  I 
was  roused  from  sleep  by  the  outcries  of  the  retainers, 
who  in  that  season  of  heat  lay  in  the  open  air  round  the 
palace.  I  started  from  my  bed,  only  to  see,  with  astonish- 
ment, the  courtyards  filled  with  cavalry,  galloping  in  pur- 
suit of  the  few  peasants  who  still  fought  for  their  lord. 
There  was  no  time  to  be  lost;  the  torches  were  already  in 
the  hands  of  the  soldiery,  and  I  must  be  taken  or  burnt 
alive.  Constantius  was  instantly  at  my  side.  I  ordered 
the  trumpet  to  be  sounded  on  the  hills,  and  we  rushed 
out  together,  spear  in  hand.  The  Romans,  alarmed  by 
resistance,  where  they  had  counted  upon  capture  without 
a  blow,  fell  back.  The  interval  was  fatal  to  them.  Their 
retreat  was  intercepted  by  the  whole  body  of  the  peasantry, 
at  length  effectually  roused.  The  scythe  and  reaping-hook 
were  deadly  weapons  to  horsemen  cooped  up  between  walls, 


172  8ALATHIEL. 

and  in  midnight.  No  effort  of  mine  could  stop  the  havoc, 
when  once  the  fury  of  my  people  was  roused.  A  few  es- 
caped, who  had  broken  wildly  away  in  the  first  onset.  The 
rest  were  left  to  cover  the  avenues,  with  the  first  sanguinary 
offerings  of  the  final  war  of  Judea. 

I  felt  that  this  escape  could  be  but  temporary;  for  the 
Roman  policy  never  forgave,  until  the  slightest  stain  of 
defeat  was  wiped  away.  All  was  consternation  in  my 
family;  and  the  order  for  departure,  whatever  tears  it 
cost,  found  no  opposition.  In  a  few  hours,  our  camels  and 
mules  were  loaded,  our  horses  caparisoned,  and  we  were 
prepared  to  quit  the  short-lived  pomp  of  the  house  of  my 
fathers.  Constantius  alone  did  not  appear.  This  noble- 
minded  being  had  won,  even  upon  me,  until  I  considered 
him  as  the  substitute  for  mv  lost  son,  and  I  would  run 
the  last  hazard,  rather  than  leave  him  to  the  Roman  mercy. 
With  the  women,  the  interest  was  expressed  by  a  declared 
resolution  not  to  leave  the  spot  until  he  was  found.  The 
caravan  was  broken  up,  and  all  desire  of  escape  at  an  end. 

At  the  close  of  a  day  of  search  through  every  defile  of 
the  country,  he  was  seen,  returning  at  the  head  of  some 
peasants  bearing  a  body  on  a  litter.  I  flew  to  meet  him. 
He  was  in  deep  affliction,  and  drawing  off  the  mantle  which 
covered  the  face,  he  showed  me  Septimius.  "In  the  flight 
of  the  Romans,"  said  he,  "I  saw  a  horseman  making  head 
against  a  crowd.  His  voice  caught  my  ear.  I  rushed 
forward  to  save  him,  and  he  burst  through  the  circle  at 
full  speed.  But  by  the  light  of  the  torches  I  could  per- 
ceive that  he  was  desperately  wounded.  When  day  broke, 
I  tracked  him  by  his  blood.  His  horse,  gashed  with  scythes, 
had  fallen  under  him.  I  found  my  unfortunate  friend 
lying  senseless  beside  a  rill,  to  which  he  had  crert  for 
water." 

Tears  fell  from  his  eyes  as  he  told  the  brief  story.  I  too 
remembered  the  generous  interposition  of  the  youth,  and 
when  I  looked  upon  the  paleness  of  those  fine  Italian 
features,  that  I  had  so  lately  seen  lighted  up  with  living 
spirit,  and  in  a  scene  of  regal  luxury.  I  felt  a  pang  for  the 
uncertainty  of  human  things.  But,  the  painful  part  of  the 
moral  was  spared  us.  The  young  Roman's  wounds  were 
stanched,  and  in  an  enemy  and  a  Roman  I  found  the  means 
of  paying  a  debt  of  gratitude.  His  appearance  among  the 


SALATHIEL.  173 

troops  sent  to  seize  me,  had  been  only  a  result  of  his 
anxiety  to  save  the  father  of  his  friends.  He  had  acci- 
dentally discovered  the  nature  of  the  order,  and  hoped  to 
anticipate  its  execution.  But  he  arrived  only  in  time  to 
be  involved  in  the  confusion  of  the  flight.  Pursued  and 
wounded  by  the  peasantry,  he  lost  his  way,  and,  but  for 
the  generous  perseverance  of  Constantius,  he  must  have 
died. 

The  public  information  which  he  brought  was  of  the 
most  important  kind.  In  the  Eoman  councils,  the  utter 
subjugation  of  Judea  was  resolved  on;  the  last  spark  of 
national  independence  was  to  be  extinguished,  though 
in  the  blood  of  the  last  native ;  a  Roman  colony  established 
in  our  lands ;  the  Eoman  worship  introduced ;  and  Jeru- 
salem profaned  by  a  statue  of  Nero,  and  sacrifices  to  him 
as  a  god,  on  the  altar  of  the  sanctuary.  To  crush  the  re- 
sistance of  the  people,  the  legions,  to  the  amount  of  sixty 
thousand  men,  were  under  orders  from  proconsular  Asia, 
Egypt,  and  Europe.  The  most  distinguished  captain  of 
the  empire,  Vespasian,  was  called  from  Britain  to  the  com- 
mand, and  the  whole  military  strength  of  Rome  was  pre- 
pared to  follow  up  the  blow. 

I  summoned  the  chief  men  of  the  tribe.  My  tempera- 
ment was  warlike.  The  seclusion  and  studies  of  my  early 
life  had  but  partially  suppressed  my  natural  delight  in 
the  vividness  of  martial  achievement.  But  the  cause  that 
now  summoned  me  was  enough  to  have  kindled  the  dullest 
peasant  into  the  soldier.  I  had  seen  the  discipline  of  the 
enemy;  I  had  made  myself  master  of  their  system  of  war. 
Fortifications,  wherever  a  stone  could  be  piled  upon  a  hill ; 
provisions,  laid  up  in  large  quantities  wherever  they  could 
be  secured ;  small  bodies  of  troops,  practised  in  manoeuvre, 
and  perpetually  in  motion  between  the  fortresses;  a  gen- 
eral base  of  operations,  to  which  all  the  movements  re- 
ferred ;  were  the  simple  principles  that  had  made  them  con- 
querors of  the  world.  I  resolved  to  give  them  a  speedy 
proof  of  my  pupilage. 


174  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

INDECISION,  in  the  beginning  of  war,  is  worse  than  war, 
I  decided  that,  whatever  were  the  consequence,  the  sword 
must  be  unsheathed  without  delay.  With  Eleazar  and  Con- 
stantius,  I  cast  my  eyes  over  the  map,  and  examined  on 
what  point  the  first  blow  should  fall.  The  proverbial 
safety  of  a  multitude  of  councillors  was  obviously  dis- 
regarded in  the  smallness  of  my  council;  yet,  few  as  we 
were,  we  differed  upon  every  point  but  one,  that  of  the 
certainty  of  our  danger;  the  promptitude  of  Roman  venge- 
ance suffered  no  contest  of  opinion.  Eleazar,  with  a 
spirit  as  manly  as  ever  faced  hazard,  yet  gave  his  voice 
for  delay. 

"You  must  first  have  the  people  with  you,  and  for  that 
purpose  you  must  have  the  leaders  of  the  people — 

"What !"  interrupted  I,  "must  we  first  mingle  in  the 
cabals  of  Jerusalem,  and  rouse  the  frigid  debaters  of  the 
Sanhedrin  into  action?  Are  we  first  to  conciliate  the 
irreconcilable,  to  soften  the  furious,  to  purify  the  cor- 
rupt? If  the  Romans  are  to  be  our  tryants  till  we  can 
teach  patriotism  to  faction,  we  may  as  well  build  the  dun- 
geon at  once,  for  to  the  dungeon  we  are  consigned  for  the 
longest  life  among  us.  It  is  the  irrevocable  nature  of 
faction  to  be  base,  until  it  can  be  mischievous;  to  lick 
the  dust  until  it  can  sting;  to  creep  on  its  belly  until  it 
can  twist  its  folds  round  the  victim.  To  the  field,  I  say ; 
once  and  for  all,  to  the  field." 

My  mind,  at  no  period  patient  of  contradiction,  was 
fevered  by  the  perplexity  of  the  time.  I  was  about  to 
leave  the  chamber,  when  Constantius  gravely  stopped  me. 
"My  father,"  said  he,  with  a  voice  calmer  than  his  coun- 
tenance, "you  have  hurt  our  noble  kinsman's  feelings.  It 
is  not  in  an  hour,  when  even  our  unanimity  may  fail,  that 
we  should  suffer  dissensions  between  those  whose  hearts 
are  alike  embarked  to  this  great  cause.  Let  me  medi- 
ate between  you." 

He  led  Eleazar  back  from  the  casement  to  which  he  had 
withdrawn  to  cool  his  blood,  burning  with  the  offence  of 
my  language.  "Eleazar  is  in  the  right.  The  Romans  are 
irresistible  by  any  force  short  of  the  whole  people.  They 
have  military  possession  of  the  country,  all  your  fortresses, 


SALATHIEL.  175 

all  your  posts,  all  your  passes.  They  are  as  familiar  as 
you  are  with  every  defile,  mountain,  and  marsh ;  they  sur- 
round you  with  conquered  provinces  on  the  north,  east, 
and  south ;  your  western  barrier  is  open  to  them,  while  it  is 
shut  to  you;  the  sea  is  the  high  road  of  their  armies, 
while,  at  their  first  forbidding,  you  dare  not  launch  a 
galley  between  Libanus  and  Idumea.  Nothing  can  counter- 
balance this  local  superiority  but  the  rising  of  your  whole 
people." 

"Yet,  are  we  to  intrigue  with  the  talkers  in  Jerusalem 
for  this?"  interrupted  I.  "What  less  than  a  descended 
thunderbolt  could  rouse  them  to  a  sense  that  there  is  even 
a  heaven  above  them?" 

"Still,  we  must  have  them  with  us,"  said  Constantius, 
"for  we  must  have  all.  Universality  is  the  spirit  of  an  in- 
surrectionary war.  If  I  were  commander  of  a  revolt,  I 
should  feel  greater  confidence  of  success  at  the  head  of  a 
single  province,  in  which  every  human  being  from  boy- 
hood upwards  was  against  the  enemy,  than  at  the  head  of 
an  empire  partially  in  arms.  The  mind  even  of  the  rudest 
spearsman  is  a  great  portion  of  him.  The  boldest  shrinks 
from  the  consciousness  that  hostility  is  on  all  sides;  that 
whether  marching  or  at  rest,  watching  or  sleeping,  by  night 
or  by  day,  hostility  is  round  him ;  that  it  is  in  the  very  air 
he  breathes,  in  the  very  food  he  eats;  that  every  face  he 
sees  is  the  face  of  one  who  wishes  him  slain;  that  every 
knife,  even  every  trivial  instrument  of  human  use,  may  be 
turned  into  a  shedder  of  his  blood.  Those  things,  perpet- 
ually confronting  his  mind,  break  it  down;  until  the  man 
grows  reckless,  miserable,  undisciplined,  and  a  dastard." 

"Yet,"  observed  Eleazar,  "the  constant  robbery  of  an 
insurrectionary  war  must  render  it  a  favorite  command." 

"Let  me  speak  from  experience,"  said  Constantius.  "Two 
years  ago,  I  was  attached,  with  a  squadron  of  galleys,  to 
the  expedition  against  the  tribes  of  Mount  Taurus.  While 
the  galleys  wintered  in  Cyprus,  I  followed  the  troops  up 
the  hills.  Nothing  had  been  omitted  that  could  counter- 
act the  severity  of  the  season.  Tents,  provisions,  clothing 
adapted  to  the  hills,  even  luxuries  despatched  from  the 
islands,  gave  the  camps  almost  the  indulgences  of  cities. 
The  physical  hardships  of  the  campaign  were  trivial  com- 
pared with  those  of  hundreds  in  which  the  Eomans  had 


176  SALATHIEL. 

beaten  regular  armies,  Yet  the  discontent  was  indescrib- 
able, from  the  perpetual  alarms  of  the  service.  The 
mountaineers  were  not  numerous;  but  half  armed;  disci- 
plined they  were  not  at  all.  A  Koman  centurion  would 
have  out-manoeuvred  all  their  captains.  But  they  were 
brave;  they  knew  nothing  but  to  kill  or  be  killed;  and  it 
made  no  difference  to  them  whether  Death  did  his  work 
by  night  or  by  day.  Sleep,  to  us,  was  scarcely  possible.  To 
sit  down  on  a  march  was  to  be  levelled  at  by  a  score  of 
arrows;  to  pursue  the  archers  was  to  be  lured  into  some 
hollow,  where  a  fragment  of  the  rock  above,  or  a  felled  tree, 
was  ready  to  crush  the  legionaries.  We  chased  them  from 
hill  to  hill;  we  might  as  well  have  chased  the  vultures 
and  eagles  that  duly  followed  us,  with  the  perfect  certainty 
of  not  being  disappointed  of  their  meal.  Wherever  the 
enemy  showed  themselves,  they  were  beaten,  but  our  victory 
was  totally  fruitless.  The  next  turn  of  the  mountain  road 
was  a  stronghold,  from  which  we  had  to  expect  a  new  storm 
of  arrows,  lances,  and  fragments  of  rock;  and,  until  our 
campaign  is  forgotten,  no  Eoman  captain  will  look  for 
his  laurels  in  Mount  Taurus  again." 

"Such  forever  be  the  fate  of  wars  against  the  natural 
freedom  of  the  brave,"  said  I.  "Before  another  Sabbath, 
I  shall  make  the  experiment  of  my  fitness  to  be  the  leader 
of  my  countrymen.  At  the  head  of  my  own  tribe  I  will 
march  to  the  Holy  City,  seize  the  garrison,  and  from 
Herod's  palace,  from  the  very  chair  of  the  Procurator,  will 
I  at  once  silence  the  voice  of  faction,  and  lift  the  banner  to 
the  tribes  of  Israel." 

"Nobly  conceived,"  said  Constantius,  his  countenance 
glowing  with  animation.  "Blow  upon  blow  is  the  true 
tactic  of  an  insurrectionary  war.  We  must  strike  at  once, 
suddenly  and  boldly.  The  sword  of  him  who  would  tri- 
umph in  a  revolt,  must  not  merely  sound  on  the  enemy's 
helmet,  but  cut  through  it." 

"Yet  to  a  march  on  Jerusalem,"  said  Eleazar,  "  the  ob- 
jections are  palpable.  The  city  would  be  out  of  all  hope 
of  a  surprise,  difficult  to  capture,  and  beyond  all  chance  to 
keep." 

"Ever  tardy,  thwarting,  and  contradictory,"  I  ex- 
claimed. "If  the  Eoman  sceptre  lay  under  my  heel,  I 
should  find  Eleazar  forbidding  me  to  crush  it.  My  mind 


BALA'fHIEL.  177 

is  fixed;  I  will  hear  no  more."  I  started  from  my  seat, 
and  paced  the  chamber.  Eleazar  approached  me:  "My 
brother,"  said  he,  holding  out  his  hand  with  a  forgiving 
smile,  "we  must  not  differ.  I  honor  your  heart,  Salathiel ; 
I  know  your  talents;  there  is  not  a  man  in  Judea  whom 
I  should  be  prouder  to  see  at  the  head  of  its  councils.  And 
now  I  offer  you  myself  and  every  man  whom  I  can  influ- 
ence, to  follow  you  to  the  last  extremity.  The  only  ques- 
tions is,  where  the  blow  is  to  fall." 

Constantius  had  been  gazing  on  the  chart  of  Judea, 
which  lay  between  us  on  the  table.  "If  it  be  our  object/' 
said  he,  "to  combine  injury  to  the  Romans  with  actual  ad- 
vantage to  ourselves,  to  make  a  trial  where  failure  cannot 
be  ruinous,  and  where  success  may  be  of  measureless  value, 
here  is  the  spot."  He  pointed  to  Masada. 

The  fortress  of  Masada  was  built  by  Herod  the  Great, 
as  his  principal  magazine  of  arms.  A  fierce  and  success- 
ful soldier,  one  of  his  luxuries  was  the  variety  and  costli- 
ness of  his  weapons,  and  the  royal  armory  of  Masada  was 
renowned  throughout  Asia.  Pride  in  the  possession  of 
such  a  trophy,  probably  aided  by  some  reverence  for  the 
memory  of  the  friend  of  Cassar  and  Antony,  whom  the 
legions  still  almost  worshipped  as  tutelar  genii,  originally 
saved  it  from  the  usual  Eoman  spoliation.  But  no  native 
foot  was  permitted  to  enter  the  armory,  and  mysterious 
stories  of  the  sights  and  sounds  of  those  splendid  halls 
filled  the  ears  of  the  people.  Masada  was  held  to  be  the  talis- 
man of  the  Roman  power  over  Judea,  by  more  than  the 
people;  the  belief  had  made  its  way  among  the  legions, 
and  no  capture  could  be  a  bolder  omen  of  the  war. 

I  still  preferred  the  more  direct  blow  on  Jerusalem,  and 
declaimed  on  the  vital  importance,  in  all  wars,  of  seizing 
on  the  capital.  But  I  was  controlled.  Eleazar's  grave  wis- 
dom and  the  science  of  Constantius  deprived  me  of  argu- 
ment; and  the  attack  on  Masada  was  finally  planned  be- 
fore we  left  the  chamber.  Nothing  could  be  more  primi- 
tive than  our  plan  for  the  siege  of  the  most  scientific  for- 
tification in  Judea,  crowded  with  men,  and  furnished  with 
every  implement  and  machine  of  war  that  Roman  experi- 
ence could  supply.  Our  simple  preparations  were  a  few 
ropes  for  ladders,  a  few  hatchets  for  cutting  down  gates 
and  palisadoes,  and  a  few  faggots  for  setting  on  fire  what 


8ALATHIEL. 

•we  could.  Five  hundred  of  our  tribe,  who  had  never 
thrown  a  lance  but  in  hunting,  formed  our  expedition ;  and 
at  the  head  of  those,  Constantius,  who  claimed  the  ex- 
ploit by  the  right  of  discovery,  was  to  march  at  dusk,  con- 
ceal himself  in  the  forests  during  the  day  and  on  the 
evening  of  his  arrival  within  reach  of  the  fortress,  attempt 
it  by  surprise.  Eloazar  was,  in  the  meantime,  to  rouse 
his  retainers,  and  I  was  to  await  at  their  head  the  result 
of  the  enterprise,  and,  if  successful,  unfurl  the  standard 
of  Naphtali  and  advance  on  Jerusalem. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  remainder  of  this  memorable  day  lingered  on  with 
a  tardiness  beyond  description.  The  criminal  who  counts 
the  watches  of  the  night  before  his  execution  has  but  a 
faint  image  of  that  hot  and  yet  pining  anxiety,  that 
loathing  of  all  things  unconnected  with  the  one  mighty 
event,  that  mixture  of  hopelessness  and  hope,  that  mor- 
bid nervousness  of  every  fibre  in  his  frame,  which  make 
up  the  suspense  of  the  conspirator,  in  even  the  noblest 
cause. 

When  the  hour  of  banquet  came  I  sat  down  in  the 
midst  of  magnificence,  as  was  the  custom  of  my  rank ;  the 
table  was  filled  with  guests ;  all  around  me  was  gaiety  and 
pomp,  high-born  men,  handsome  women,  richly  attired 
attendants;  plate,  the  work  of  Tyrian  and  Greek  artists, 
in  its  massive  beauty;  walls  covered  with  tissues;  music 
filling  the  air  cooled  by  fountains  of  perfumed  waters.  I 
felt  as  little  of  them  as  if  I  were  in  the  wilderness.  If  I 
had  one  wish  it  was  that  for  the  next  forty-eight  hours 
oblivion  might  amount  to  insensibility !  At  my  wife  and 
daughters  I  ventured  but  one  glance.  I  thought  that  I 
had  never  before  seen  them  look  so  fitted  to  adorn  their 
rank,  to  be  the  models  of  grace,  loveliness  and  honor  to 
society;  and  the  thought  smote  my  heart!  how  soon  may 
all  this  be  changed ! 

My  eyes  sought  Constantius;  he  had  just  returned  from 
his  preparations  and  came  in  glowing  with  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  soldier.  He  sat  down  beside  Salome  and  his 
cheek  gradually  turned  of  the  hue  of  death.  He  sat,  like 


SALATHIEL.  179 

myself,  absorbed  in  frequent  reverie;  and  to  the  playful 
solicitations  of  Salome,  that  he  would  indulge  in  the  table 
after  his  fatigue,  he  gave  forced  smiles  and  broken  an- 
swers. The  future  was  plainly  busy  with  us  both ;  with 
all  that  the  heart  of  man  could  love  beside  him,  he  felt 
the  pang  of  contrast ;  and  when  on  accidentally  lifting  his 
eyes  they  met  mine,  the  single  conscious  look  interchanged 
told  the  perturbation  that  preyed  on  both  in  the  heart's 
core. 

I  soon  rose,  and,  having  letters  to  despatch  to  our 
friends  in  Borne,  retired  to  my  chamber.  There  lay  the 
chart  still  on  the  table,  marked  by  the  pencil  lines  of 
the  route  to  Masada.  With  what  breathlessless  I  now 
traced  every  point  and  bearing  of  it !  There,  within  a 
space  over  which  I  could  stretch  my  arm,  was  my  world ! 
In  that  little  boundary  was  I  to  struggle  against  the  su- 
premacy that  covered  the  earth !  Those  fairy  hills,  those 
scarcely  visible  rivers,  those  remote  cities,  dots,  of  human 
habitation,  were  to  be  henceforth  the  places  of  siege  and 
battle,  memorable  for  the  destruction  of  human  life,  en- 
grossing every  energy  of  myself  and  my  countrymen,  and 
big  with  the  fates  of  generations  on  generations ! 

It  was  dusk  and  I  was  still  devouring  with  my  eyes 
this  chart  of  almost  prophecy,  when  Constantius  entered. 
"I  have  come,"  said  he,  gravely,  "to  bid  you  farewell  for 
the  night.  In  two  days  I  hope  we  shall  all  meet  again." 

"No,  my  brave  son/'  I  interrupted,  "we  do  not  leave 
each  other  to-night." 

He  looked  surprised.  "I  must  be  gone  this  instant. 
Eleazar  has  done  his  part  with  the  activity  of  his  honest 
and  manly  mind.  Two  miles  off,  in  the  valley  under  the 
date  grove,  I  have  left  five  hundred  of  the  finest  fellows 
that  ever  sat  a  charger.  In  half  an  hour  Sirius  rises; 
then  we  go,  and  then  let  the  governor  of  Masada  look  to 
it.  Farewell,  and  wish  me  good  fortune." 

"May  every  angel  that  protects  the  righteous  cause 
hover  above  your  head !"  I  exclaimed ;  "but  no  farewell ; 
we  go  together." 

"Do  you  doubt  my  conduct  of  the  enterprise?"  pro- 
nounced he  strongly.  "'Tis  true,  I  have  been  in  the 
Roman  service;  but  that  service  I  hated  from  the  bot- 
tom of  my  soul.  If  I  could  have  found  men  to  follow  me, 


180 

I  should  have  done  in  Cyprus  what  I  now  do  in  Judea. 
The  countryman  of  Leonidas,  Cimon  and  Timoleon  was 
no*;  born  to  hug  his  slavery." 

He  relaxed  the  belt  from  his  waist  and  dropped  it  with 
hio  scimitar  on  the  ground.  I  lifted  it  and  gave  it  again 
to  his  hand. 

"No,  Constantius,"  I  replied,  "I  honor  your  zeal  and 
would  confide  in  you  if  the  world  hung  upon  the  balance. 
But  I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  lingering  here  while 
you  are  in  the  field.  My  mind  within  those  few  hours  has 
been  on  the  rack.  I  must  take  the  chances  with  you." 

"It  is  utterly  impossible,"  was  his  firm  answer.  "The 
Eoman  spies  are  everywhere.  The  natural  result  follows, 
that  our  march  would  be  intercepted ;  and  I  am  not  sure, 
•but  that  even  now  we  may  be  too  late.  That  inconceiv- 
able sagacity  by  which  the  Komans  seem  to  be  masters  of 
every  man's  secret  has  been  already  at  work;  troops  were 
seen  on  the  route  to  Masada  this  very  day.  But  let  it  be 
known  that  the  Prince  of  Naphtali  has  left  his  palace, 
and  the  dozen  squadrons  of  Thracian  horse  which  1  saw 
within  those  four  days  at  Tiberias  will  be  riding  through 
your  domains  before  the  next  sunset." 

This  reflection  checked  me.  "Well  then,"  said  I,  "go; 
and  the  protection  of  Him  whose  pillar  of  cloud  led  His 
people  through  the  sea  and  through  the  desert  be  your 
light  in  the  hour  of  peril !" 

I  pressed  his  hand;  he  turned  to  depart,  but  came 
back ;  and,  after  a  slight  hesitation,  said :  "If  Salome  had 
once  offended  her  noble  father  by  her  flight,  the  offence 
was  mine.  Forgive  her,  for  her  heart  is  still  the  heart  of 
your  child.  She  loves  you.  If  I  fall,  let  the  memory  of 
our  disobedience  lie  in  my  grave !"  His  voice  stopped, 
and  mine  could  not  break  the  silence.  "Let  what  will 
come,"  resumed  he  with  an  effort,  "tell  Salome  that 
the  last  word  on  my  lips  was  her  name!"  He  left  the 
chamber  and  I  felt  as  if  a  portion  of  my  being  had  gone 
forth  from  me. 

This  day  was  one  of  the  many  festivals  of  our  coun- 
try and  my  halls  echoed  with  sounds  of  enjoyment.  The 
immense  gardens  glittered  with  illumination  in  all  the 
graceful  devices  of  which  our  people  were  such  masters ; 
and  when  I  looked  out  for  the  path  of  Constantius  I  was 


8ALATHIEL.  181 

absolutely  pained  by  the  sight  of  so  much  fantastic  pleas- 
ure, while  my  hero  was  pursuing  his  way  through  dark- 
ness and  danger. 

At  length  the  festival  was  over.  The  lights  twinkled 
thinner  among  the  arbors,  the  sounds  of  glad  voices  sank, 
and  I  saw  from  my  casement  the  evidences  of  departure  in 
the  trains  of  torches  that  moved  up  the  surrounding  hills. 
The  sight  of  a  starlight  sky  has  always  been  to  me  among 
the  softest  and  surest  healers  of  the  heart;  and  I  gazed 
upon  that  mighty  scene  which  throws  all  human  cares 
into  such  littleness  until  my  composure  returned. 

The  last  of  the  guests  had  left  the  palace  before  I  ven- 
tured to  descend.  The  vases  of  perfumes  still  breathed 
in  the  hall  of  the  banquet;  the  alabaster  lamps  were  still 
burning;  but,  excepting  the  attendants  who  waited  on 
my  steps  at  a  distance,  and  whose  fixed  figures  might  have 
been  taken  for  statues,  there  was  not  a  living  being  near 
me,  of  the  laughing  and  joyous  crowd  that  had  so  lately 
glittered,  danced,  and  smiled  within  those  sumptuous  walls: 
Yet  what  was  this  but  a  picture  of  the  common  rotation  oi 
life?  Or,  by  a  yet  more  immediate  moral,  what  was  it 
but  a  picture  of  the  desertion  that  might  be  coming  upon 
me  and  mine?  I  sat  down  to  extinguish  my  sullen  philos- 
ophy in  wine.  But  no  draught  that  ever  passed  the  lip 
could  extinguish  the  fever  that  brooded  on  my  spirit.  I 
dreaded  that  the  presence  of  my  family  might  force  oul 
my  secret  and  lingered  with  my  eyes  gazing,  without 
sight,  on  the  costly  covering  of  the  board. 

A  sound  of  music  from  an  inner  hall,  to  which  Miriam 
and  her  daughters  had  retired,  aroused  me.  I  stood  at  the 
door,  gazing  on  the  group  within.  The  music  was  a  hymn, 
with  which  they  closed  the  customary  devotions  of  the 
day.  But  there  was  something  in  its  sound  to  me  that  I 
had  never  felt  before.  At  the  moment,  when  those  sweet 
voices  were  pouring  out  the  gratitude  of  hearts  as  innocent 
and  glowing  as  the  hearts  of  angels,  a  scene  of  horror 
might  be  acting.  The  husband  of  Salome  might  be  strug- 
gling with  the  Roman  sword;  nay,  he  might  be  lying  a 
corpse  under  the  feet  of  the  cavalry,  that  before  morn 
might  bring  the  news  of  his  destruction  in  the  flames  that 
startled  us  from  our  sleep  and  the  swords  that  pierced 
our  bosoms. 


8ALATHIEL. 

And  what  beings  were  those,  thus  appointed  for  the 
sacrifice?  The  lapse  of  even  a  few  years  had  perfected 
the  natural  beauty  of  my  daughters.  Salome's  sparkling 
eye  was  more  brilliant;  her  graceful  form  was  moulded 
into  more  easy  elegance ;  and  her  laughing  lip  was  wreathed 
with  a  more  playful  smile.  Never  did  I  see  a  creature  of 
deeper  Witchery.  My  Esther,  my  noble  and  dear  Esther, 
who  Was,  perhaps,  the  dearer  to  me  from  her  inheriting 
a  tinge  of  my  melancholy,  yet  a  melancholy  exalted  by 
genius  into  a  charm,  was  this  night  the  leader  of  the 
song  of  holiness.  Her  large  uplifted  eye  glowed  with  the 
brightness  of  one  of  the  stars  on  which  it  was  fixed. 
Her  hands  fell  on  the  harp  in  almost  the  attitude  of 
prayer,  and  the  expression  of  her  lofty  and  intellectual 
countenance,  crimsoned  with  the  theme,  told  of  a  com- 
munion with  thoughts  and  beings  above  mortality.  The 
hymn  was  done;  the  voices  had  ceased;  yet  the  inspira- 
tion still  burned  in  her  soul;  her  hands  still  shook  from 
the  chords'  harmonies,  sweet,  but  of  the  wildest  and  bold- 
est brilliancy;  bursts  and  flights  of  sound,  like  the  rush- 
ing of  the  distant  waterfall  at  night,  or  the  strange,  sol- 
emn echoes  of  the  forest  in  the  first  swell  of  the  storm. 
Miriam  and  Salome  sat  beholding  her,  in  silent  admira- 
tion and  love.  The  magnificent  dress  of  the  Jewish  fe- 
male could  not  heighten  the  power  of  such  beauty.  But 
it  filled  up  the  picture.  The  jewelled  tiaras,  the  em- 
broidered shawls,  the  high-wrought  and  massive  armlets, 
the  silken  robes  and  sashes  fringed  with  pearl  and  dia- 
mond, the  profusion  of  dazzling  ornament  that  form  the 
Oriental  costume  to  this  day,  were  the  true  habits  of  the 
beings  that  then  sat,  unconscious  of  the  delighted  yet  anx- 
ious eye  that  drank  in  the  joy  of  their  presence.  I  saw 
before  me  the  pomp  of  princedoms,  investing  forms  worthy 
of  thrones. 

My  entrance  broke  off  the  harper's  spell,  and  I  found 
it  a  hard  task  to  answer  the  touching  congratulations  that 
flowed  upon  me.  But  the  hour  waned  and  I  was  again 
left  alone  for  the  few  minutes  which  it  was  my  custom  to 
give  to  meditation  before  I  retired  to  rest.  I  threw  open 
the  door  that  opened  into  a  garden  thick,  with  the  Persian 
rose  and  filling  the  air  with  cool  fragrance.  At  my  first 
glance  upwards  I  saw  Sirius;  he  was  on  the  verge  of  the 


SALATHIEL.  183 

horizon!  the  thought  of  the  day  again  gathered  over  my 
soul.  I  idly  combined  the  fate  of  Constantius  with  the 
decline  of  the  star  that  he  had  taken  for  his  signal.  My 
senses  lost  their  truth,  or  contributed  to  deceive  me.  I 
fancied  that  I  heard  sounds  of  conflict;  the  echo  of  horses' 
feet  rang  in  my  ears.  A  meteor  that  slowly  sailed  across 
the  sky  struck  me  as  a  supernatural  summons.  My  brain, 
fearfully  excitable  since  my  great  misfortune,  at  length 
kindled  up  such  strong  realities  that  I  found  myself  on 
the  point  of  betraying  the  burden  of  my  spirit  by  some 
palpable  disclosure. 

Twice  had  I  reached  the  door  of  Miriam's  chamber  to 
tell  her  my  whole  perplexity.  But  I  heard  the  voice  of 
her  attendants  within,  and  again  shrank  from  the  tale.  I 
ranged  the  long  galleries,  perplexed  with  capricious  and 
strange  torments  of  the  imagination.  "If  he  should  fall," 
said  I,  "how  shall  I  atone  for  the  cruelty  of  sending  him 
upon  a  service  of  such  hopeless  hazard — a  few  peasants 
with  naked  breasts  against  Koman  battlements !  What 
soldier  would  not  ridicule  my  folly  in  hoping  success; 
what  man  would  not  charge  me  with  scorn  of  the  life  of  my 
kindred?  The  blood  of  my  tribe  will  be  upon  my  head 
forever.  There  sinks  the  Prince  of  Naphtali!  In  the 
grave  of  my  gallant  son  and  his  companions  is  buried  my 
dream  of  martial  honor;  the  sword  that  strikes  him  cuts  to 
the  ground  my  last  ambition  of  delivering  my  country." 

The  advice  of  Constantius  returned  to  my  mind,  but, 
like  the  meeting  of  two  tides,  it  was  only  to  increase  the 
tumult  within.  I  felt  the  floor  shake  under  my  hurried 
tread.  I  smote  my  forehead — it  was  covered  with  drops 
of  agony.  The  voices  within  my  wife's  chamber  had 
ceased.  But  was  I  to  rouse  her  from  her  sleep,  perhaps 
the  last  quiet  sleep  that  she  was  ever  to  take,  only  to  hear 
intelligence  that  must  make  her  miserable? 

I  leaned  my  throbbing  forehead  upon  one  of  the  marble 
tables,  as  if  to  imbibe  coolness  from  the  stone.  I  felt  a 
light  hand  upon  mine.  Miriam  stood  beside  me.  "Sala- 
thiel !"  pronounced  she,  in  an  unshaken  voice,  "there  is 
something  painful  on  your  mind.  Whether  it  be  only  a 
duty  on  your  part  to  disclose  it  to  me,  I  shall  not  say; 
but  if  you  think  me  fit  to  share  your  happier  hours,  must 
J  have  the  humiliation  of  feeling  that  I  am  to  be  e£- 

" 


184  SALATHIEL. 

eluded  from  your  confidence  in  the  day  when  those  hours 
may  be  darkened  ?" 

I  was  silent,  for  to  speak  was  beyond  my  strength,  but 
I  pressed  her  delicate  fingers  to  my  bosom. 

"Misfortune,  my  dear  husband,"  resumed  she,  "is  trivial, 
but  when  it  reaches  the  mind.  Oh,  rather  let  me  en- 
counter it  in  the  bitterest  privations  of  poverty  and  exile ; 
rather  let  me  be  a  nameless  outcast  to  the  latest  year  I 
have  to  live,  than  feel  the  bitterness  of  being  forgotten  by 
the  heart  to  which,  come  life  or  death,  mine  is  bound  for- 
ever and  ever." 

I  glanced  up  at  her.  Tears  dropped  on  her  cheeks ;  but 
her  voice  was  firm.  "I  have  observed  you,"  said  she,  "in 
deep  agitation  during  the  day,  but  I  forbore  to  press  you 
for  the  cause.  I  have  listened  now  till  long  past  midnight 
to  the  sound  of  your  feet,  to  the  sound  of  groans  and  pangs 
wrung  from  your  bosom ;  nay,  to  exclamations  and  broken 
sentences  which  have  let  me  most  involuntarily  into  the 
knowledge  that  this  disturbance  arises  from  the  state  of 
our  country.  I  know  your  noble  nature;  and  I  say  to 
you,  in  this  solemn  and  sacred  hour  of  danger,  follow  the 
guidance  of  that  noble  nature." 

1  cast  my  arms  about  her  neck  and  imprinted  a  kiss  as 
true  as  ever  came  from  human  love  upon  her  lips.  She 
had  taken  a  weight  from  my  soul.  I  detailed  the  whole  de- 
sign to  her.  She  listened  with  many  a  change  from  red 
to  pale,  and  many  a  tremor  of  the  white  hand  that  lay  in 
mine.  When  I  ceased  the  woman  in  her  broke  forth  in 
tears  and  sighs.  "Yet,"  said  she,  "you  must  go  to  the 
field.  Perish  the  thought  that  for  the  selfish  desire  of 
looking  even  upon  you  in  safety  here,  I  should  hazard  the 
dearer  honor  of  my  lord.  It  is  right  that  Judea  should 
make  the  attempt  to  shake  off  her  tyranny.  The  people 
can  never  be  deceived  in  their  own  cause.  Kings  and 
courts  may  be  deluded  into  the  choice  of  incapacity;  but 
the  man  whom  a  people  will  follow  from  their  firesides 
must  bear  the  palpable  stamp  of  a  leader." 

"Admirable  being!"  I  exclaimed,  "worthy  to  be  hon- 
ored while  Israel  has  a  name.  Then,  I  have  your  consent 
to  follow  Constantius.  By  speed,  I  may  reach  him  before 
he  can  have  arrived  at  the  object  of  the  enterprise.  Fare- 
well, my  best  beloved,  farewell !"  She  fell  into  my  arms 
in  a  passion  of  tears. 


8ALATHIEL.  185 

She  at  length  recovered  and  said:  "This  is  weakness, 
the  mere  weakness  of  surprise.  Yes,  go,  Prince  of  Naph- 
tali.  No  man  must  take  the  glory  from  you.  Constantius 
is  a  hero,  but  you  must  be  a  king,  and  more  than  a  king ; 
not  the  struggler  for  the  glories  of  royalty,  but  for  the 
glories  of  the  rescuer  of  the  people  of  God.  The  first 
blow  of  the  war  must  not  be  given  by  another,  dear  as  he 
is.  The  first  triumph,  the  whole  triumph,  must  be  my 
lord's/'  She  knelt  down  and  poured  out  her  soul  to 
Heaven  in  eloquent  supplication  for  my  safety.  I  lis- 
tened in  speechless  homage. 

"Now  go,"  sighed  she,  "and  remember,  in  the  day  of 
the  battle,  who  will  then  be  in  prayer  for  you.  Court  no 
unnecessary  peril,  for  if  you  perish,  which  of  us  would 
desire  to  live !"  She  again  sank  upon  her  knees  and  I  in 
reverent  silence  descended  from  the  gallery. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MY  preparations  were  quickly  made.  I  divested  my- 
self of  my  robes,  led  out  my  favorite  barb,  flung  an  alhaik 
over  my  shoulders,  and  by  the  help  of  my  Arab  turban, 
might  have  passed  for  a  plunderer  in  any  corner  of  Syria. 
This  was  done  unseen  of  any  eye;  for  the  crowd  of  atten 
ants  that  thronged  the  palace  in  the  day  were  now  stretched 
through  the  courts,  or  on  the  terraces,  fast  asleep,  under 
the  double  influence  of  a  day  of  feasting  and  a  night  of 
tepid  summer  air.  I  rode  without  stopping  until  the  sun 
began  to  throw  up  his  yellow  rays  through  the  vapors  of 
the  Lake  of  Tiberias.  Then,  to  ascertain  alike  the  prog- 
ress of  Constantius,  and  avoid  the  chances  of  meeting 
with  some  of  those  Roman  squadrons  which  were  perpet- 
ually moving  between  the  fortresses,  I  struck  off  the  road 
into  a  forest,  tied  my  barb  to  a  tree,  and  set  forth  to  re- 
connoitre the  scene. 

Travelling  on  foot  was  the  common  mode  in  a  country 
which,  like  Judea,  was  but  little  fitted  for  the  breed  of 
horses,  and  I  found  no  want  of  companions.  Pedlars, 
peasants,  disbanded  soldiers  and  probably  thieves  diversi- 
fied my  knowledge  of  mankind  within  a  few  miles.  I  es- 
caped under  the  sneer  of  the  soldier  and  the  compassion 
of  the  peasant.  The  first  glance  at  my  wardrobe  satisfied 


186  8ALATHIEL. 

the  robber  that  I  was  not  worth  the  exercise  of  his  pro- 
fession, or  perhaps  that  I  was  a  brother  of  the  trade.  I 
here  found  none  of  the  repulsiveness  that  makes  the  in- 
tercourse of  higher  life  so  unproductive.  Confidence  was 
on  every  tongue ;  and  I  discovered,  even  in  the  sandy  ways 
of  Palestine,  that  to  be  a  judicious  listener  is  one  of  the 
first  talents  for  popularity  all  over  the  world.  But  of  my 
peculiar  objects  I  could  learn  nothing,  though  every  man 
whom  I  met  had  some  story  of  the  Romans.  I  ascertained, 
to  my  surprise,  that  the  intelligence  which  Septimiu* 
brought  from  the  very  curtains  of  the  imperial  cabinet  was 
known  to  the  multitude.  Every  voice  of  the  populace  was 
full  of  tales,  probably  reckoned  among  the  profoundest  se- 
crets of  the  state.  I  have  made  the  same  observation  in 
later  eras,  and  found,  even  in  the  most  formal  mysteries 
of  the  most  frowning  governments,  the  rumor  of  the 
streets  outruns  the  cabinets.  So  it  must  be,  while  diploma- 
tists have  tongues,  and  while  women  and  domestics  have 
curiosity. 

But  if  I  were  to  rely  on  the  accuracy  of  those  willing 
politicians,  the  cause  of  independence  was  without  hope. 
Human  nature  loves  to  make  itself  important,  and  the 
narrator  of  the  marvellous  is  always  great,  according  to 
the  distention  of  his  news.  Those  who  had  seen  a  cohort 
invariably  magnified  it  into  a  legion;  a  troop  of  cavalry 
covered  half  a  province;  and  the  cohorts  marching  from 
Asia  Minor  or  Egypt  for  our  garrisons  were  reckoned  by 
the  very  largest  enumeration  within  the  teller's  capacity. 

As  I  was  sitting  by  a  rivulet,  moistening  some  of  the 
common  bread  of  the  country,  which  I  had  brought  to 
aid  my  disguise,  I  entered  into  conversation  with  one  of 
those  unhoused  exiles  of  society  whom  at  the  first  glance 
we  discern  to  be  nature's  commoners,  indebted  to  no  man 
for  food,  raiment  or  habitation,  the  native  dweller  on  the 
road.  He  had  some  of  the  habitual  jest  of  those  who 
have  no  care,  and  congratulated  me  on  the  size  of  my 
table,  the  meadow ;  and  the  unadulterated  purity  of  my  po- 
tation, the  brook.  He  informed  me  that  he  came  direct 
from  the  Nile,  where  he  had  seen  the  son  of  Vespasian 
at  the  head  of  a  hundred  thousand  men.  A  Syrian  soldier, 
returning  to  Damascus,  who  joined  our  meal,  felt  indig- 
nant at  the  discredit  thus  thrown  on  a  general  under 


8ALATH1BL.  187 

whom  he  had  received  three  pike  wounds  and  leave  to 
heg  his  way  home.  He  swore  by  Ashtaroth  that  the  force- 
under  Titus  was  at  least  twice  the  number.  A  third  wan- 
derer, a  Eoman  veteran,  of  whom  the  remainder  was  cov- 
ered over  with  glorious  patches,  arrived  just  in  time  to 
relieve  his  general  from  the  disgrace  of  so  limited  a  com- 
mand, and  another  hundred  thousand  was  instantly  put 
under  his  orders;  sanctioned  by  asservations  in  the  name 
of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  and  as  many  others  of  the  cal- 
endar as  the  patriot  could  pronounce.  This  rapid  re- 
cruiting threw  the  former  authorities  into  the  background, 
and  the  old  legionary  was,  for  the  rest  of  the  meal,  the  un- 
disputed leader  of  the  conversation.  They  had  evidently 
heard  some  rumor  of  our  preparations. 

"To  suppose,"  said  the  veteran,  "that  those  circumcised 
dogs  can  stand  against  a  regular-bred  Roman  general  is 
sacrilege.  Half  his  army,  or  a  tenth  of  his  army,  would 
walk  through  the  land,  north  and  south,  east  and  west, 
as  easily  as  I  could  walk  through  this  brook." 

"No  doubt  of  it,"  said  the  Syrian,  "if  they  had  some 
of  our  cavalry  for  flanking  and  foraging." 

"Ay,  for  anything  but  fighting,  comrade,"  said  the 
Eoman  with  a  laugh. 

"No,  you  leave  out  another  capital  quality,"  observed 
the  beggar,  "for  none  can  deny  that  whoever  may  be  first 
in  the  advance,  the  Syrians  will  be  first  in  the  retreat. 
There  are  two  manoeuvres  to  make  a  complete  soldier — 
how  to  get  into  the  battle  and  how  to  get  out  of  it.  Now, 
the  Syrians  manage  the  latter  in  the  most  undoubted 
perfection." 

"Silence,  villain,"  exclaimed  the  Syrian,  "or  you  have 
robbed  your  last  henroost  in  this  world." 

"He  says  nothing  but  the  truth  for  all  that,"  inter- 
rupted the  veteran.  "But  neither  of  us  taxed  your  cav- 
alry with  cowardice.  No,  it  was  pure  virtue.  They  had 
too  much  modesty  to  take  the  way  into  the  field  before 
other  troops,  and  too  much  humanity  not  to  teach  them 
how  to  sleep  without  broken  bones." 

The  beggar,  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  quarrel,  gave 
the  assent  that  more  embroiled  the  fray. 

"Mark  Antony  did  not  say  so/'  murmured  the  indig- 
nant Syrian. 


1 88  8ALATHIEL. 

"Mark  Antony!"  cried  the  Eoman,  starting  upon  his 
single  leg;  "glory  to  his  name,  but  what  could  a  fellow 
like  you  know  about  Mark  Antony?" 

"I  only  served  with  him,"  drily  replied  the  Syrian. 

"Then  here's  my  hand  for  you,"  exclaimed  the  brave 
old  man;  "we  are  comrades.  I  would  love  even  a  dog 
that  had  seen  the  face  of  Mark  Antony.  He  was  the  first 
man  that  I  ever  carried  buckler  under.  Ay,  there  was  a 
soldier  for  you;  such  men  are  not  made  in  this  puling 
age.  He  could  fight  from  morn  till  night,  and  carouse 
from  night  till  morn,  and  never  lose  his  seat  on  his  charger 
in  the  field  for  the  day  after.  I  have  seen  him  run  half 
naked  through  the  snows  in  Armenia,  and  walk  in  armor 
in  the  hottest  day  of  Egypt.  He  loved  the  soldier  and  the 
soldier  loved  him.  So,  comrade,  here's  to  the  health  of 
Mark  Antony.  Ah,  we  shall  never  see  such  men  again." 
He  drew  out  a  flask  of  ration  wine,  closely  akin  to  vinegar, 
of  which  he  hospitably  gave  us  each  a  cup,  and  after  pour- 
ing a  libation  to  his  hero's  memory,  whom  he  evidently 
placed  among  his  gods,  swallowed  the  draught,  in  which 
we  devoutly  followed  his  example. 

"Yet,"  said  the  beggar,  "if  Antony  were  a  great  man 
he  has  left  little  men  enough  behind  him.  There's,  for 
instance,  the  present  gay  procurator;  six  months  in  the 
gout,  the  other  six  months  drunk,  or,  if  sober,  only  think- 
ing where  he  can  rob  next.  This  will  bring  the  govern- 
ment into  trouble  before  long,  or  I'm  much  mistaken. 
For  my  part,  I  pledge  myself,  if  he  should  take  any  part 
of  my  property " 

"Why,  if  he  did,"  said  the  Syrian,  "I  give  him  credit 
for  magic.  He  could  find  a  crop  of  wheat  in  the  sand 
or  coin  money  out  of  the  air.  Where  does  vour  estate 
lie?" 

"Comrade,"  said  the  veteran,  laughing,  "recollect,  if 
the  saying  be  true,  that  people  are  least  to  be  judged  of 
by  the  outside,  the  rags  of  our  jovial  friend  must  hide 
many  a  shekel,  and  as  to  where  his  estate  lies,  he  has  a 
wide  estate  who  has  the  world  for  his  portion,  and  money 
enough  who  thinks  all  his  own  that  he  can  lay  his  fingers 
on." 

The  laugh  was  now  loud  against  the  beggar.     He,  how- 
,  bore  all  like  one  accustomed  to  the  buffets  of  fortune. 


kALATHIEL.  189 

and,  joining  in  it,  said:  "Whatever  may  be  my  talents 
in  that  way,  there  is  no  great  chance  of  showing  them  in 
this  company;  but  if  you  should  be  present  at  the  sack  of 
Masada,  and  I  should  meet  you  on  your  way  back " 

"Masada !"  exclaimed  I  instinctively. 

"Yes,  I  left  the  town  three  days  ago.  On  that  very 
morning  an  order  arrived  to  prepare  for  the  coming  of  the 
great  and  good  Florus,  who,  in  his  wisdom,  feeling  the 
want  of  gold,  has  determined  to  fill  up  the  hollows  of  the 
military  chest  and  his  own  purse  by  stripping  the  ar- 
mory of  everything  that  can  sell  for  money.  My  in- 
telligence is  from  the  best  authority.  The  governor's  prin- 
cipal bath  slave  told  it  to  one  of  the  damsels  of  the  stew- 
ard's department,  with  whom  the  Ethiopian  is  mortally 
in  love;  and  the  damsel,  in  a  moment  of  confidence,  told 
it  to  me.  In  fact,  to  let  you  into  my  secret,  I  am  now 
looking  out  for  Florus,  in  whose  train  I  intend  to  make 
my  way  back  into  this  gold  mine." 

"The  villain  I"  cried  the  veteran,  "disturb  the  arms  of 
the  dead !  Why,  they  say  that  it  has  the  very  corslet  and 
buckler  that  Mark  Antony  wore  when  he  marched  against 
the  Idumeans." 

"I  fear  more  the  disturbance  of  the  arms  of  the  living/' 
said  the  Syrian.  "The  Jews  will  take  it  for  granted  that 
the  Eomans  are  giving  up  the  business  in  despair,  and  if 
I'm  a  true  man  there  will  be  blood  before  I  get  home." 

"No  fear  of  that,  fellow  soldier,"  said  the  veteran, 
gaily;  "you  have  kept  your  two  legs,  and  when  they  have 
so  long  carried  you  out  of  harm's  way  it  would  be  the 
worst  treatment  possible  to  leave  you  in  it  at  last.  But 
there  is  something  in  what  you  say.  I  had  a  dream  last 
night.  I  thought  that  I  saw  the  country  in  a  blaze,  and 
when  I  started  from  my  sleep  my  ears  were  filled  with  a 
sound  like  the  trampling  of  ten  thousand  cavalry." 

I  drew  my  breath  quick,  and,  to  conceal  my  emotion, 
gathered  up  the  fragments  of  our  meal.  On  completing 
my  work  I  found  the  beggar's  eye  fixed  on  me;  he  smiled. 
"I,  too,  had  a  dream  last  night,"  said  he,  "and  of  much 
the  same  kind.  I  thought  that  I  saw  a  cloud  of  cavalry 
riding  as  fast  as  horse  could  lay  hoof  to  the  ground;  I 
never  saw  a  more  dashing  set  since  my  first  campaign  upon 
the  highways  of  this  wicked  world.  I'll  be  sworn  that, 


100  8ALATH1EL. 

whatever  their  errand  may  be,  such  riders  will  not  come 
back  without  it.  Their  horses'  heads  were  turned  towards 
Masada,  and  I  am  now  between  two  minds,  whether  I  may 
not  mention  my  dream  to  the  procurator  himself." 

I  found  his  keen  eye  turned  on  me  again.  "Absurd!" 
said  I;  "he  would  recommend  you  only  to  his  lictor." 

"I  rather  think  he  would  recommend  me  to  his  treas- 
urer, for  I  never  had  a  dream  that  seemed  so  like  a  fact. 
I  should  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  I  had  been  sleeping 
with  my  eyes  open." 

His  look  convinced  me  that  I  was  known !  1  touched  his 
hand,  while  the  soldiers  were  busy  packing  up  their  cups 
and  showed  him  gold.  He  smiled  carelessly.  I  laid  my 
hand  on  my  poniard;  he  but  smiled  again. 

"The  sun  is  burning  out,"  said  he,  "and  I  can  stand 
talking  here  no  longer.  Farewell,  brave  soldiers,  and  safe 
home  to  you !  Farewell,  Arab,  and  safe  home  to  those  that 
you  are  looking  after !"  He  stalked  away,  and  as  he  passed 
me  said  in  a  low  voice,  "Glory  to  Naphtali !" 

After  exchanging  good  wishes  with  the  old  men,  I  fol- 
lowed him;  he  led  the  way  towards  the  wood  at  a  pace 
which  kept  me  at  a  distance.  When  I  reached  the  shade, 
he  stopped,  and  prostrated  himself  before  me. 

"Will  my  lord,"  said  he,  "forgive  the  presumption  of 
his  servant?  This  day,  when  I  first  met  you,  your  dis- 
guise deceived  me.  I  bear  intelligence  from  your  friends." 
I  caught  the  fragment  of  papyrus  from  him  and  read: 
"All's  well.  We  have  hitherto  met  with  nothing  to  op- 
pose us.  To-morrow  night  we  shall  be  on  the  ground.  If 
no  addition  be  made  to  the  force  within,  the  surprise  will 
be  complete.  Our  cause  itself  is  victory.  Health  to  all 
we  love!" 

"Your  mission  is  now  done,"  said  I.  "Go  on  to  Naph- 
tali and  you  shall  be  rewarded  as  your  activity  has  de- 
served." 

"No,"  replied  he,  with  the  easy  air  of  a  licensed  hu- 
morist, "I  have  but  two  things  to  think  of  in  this  world — 
my  time  and  my  money — of  one  of  them,  I  have  infinitely 
more  than  I  well  know  how  to  spend,  and  of  the  other 
infinitely  less.  I  expected  to  have  killed  a  few  days  in  going 
up  to  Naphtali.  But  that  hope  has  been  cut  off  by  my 
finding  you  half  way.  I  will  now  try  Floras  and  get  rid  of 
a  day  or  two  with  that  most  worthy  of  men." 


SALATH1EL*  191 

"That  I  forbid,"  interrupted  I. 

"Not  if  you  will  trust  one  whom  your  noble  son  has 
trusted.  I  am  not  altogether  without  some  dislike  to  the 
Eomans  myself,  nor  something  between  contempt  and 
hatred  for  Gessius  Floras."  His  countenance  darkened  at 
the  name.  "I  tell  you,"  pronounced  he  bitterly,  "that  fel- 
low's pampered  carcass  this  day  contains  as  black  a  mass 
of  villainy  as  stains  the  earth.  I  have  an  old  account  to 
settle  with  him." 

His  voice  quivered.  "I  was  once  no  rambler,  no  outcast 
of  the  land.  I  lived  on  the  side  of  Hermon,  lovely  Her- 
mon !  I  was  affianced  to  a  maiden  of  my  kindred,  as  sweet 
a  flower  as  ever  blushed  with  love  and  joy.  Our  bridal  day 
was  fixed.  I  went  to  Csesarea-Philippi  to  purchase  some 
marriage  presents.  When  I  returned  I  found  nothing 
but  women  weeping  and  men  furious  with  impotent  rage. 
My  bride  was  gone.  A  Roman  troop  had  surrounded  her 
father's  house  in  the  night,  and  torn  her  away.  Wild, 
distracted,  nay,  I  believe  raving  mad,  I  searched  the  land. 
I  kept  life  in  me  only  that  I  might  recover  or  revenge 
her.  I  abandoned  property,  friends,  all !  At  length  I 
made  the  discovery." 

To  hide  his  perturbation,  he  turned  away.  "Powers  of 
justice  and  vengeance !"  he  murmured  in  a  shuddering 
tone,  "are  there  no  thunders  for  such  things?  She  had 
been  seen  by  that  hoary  profligate.  She  was  carried  off  by 
him.  She  spurned  his  insults.  He  ordered  her  to  be 
chained,  to  be  starved,  to  be  lashed !" 

Tears  burst  from  his  eyes.  "She  still  spurned  him. 
She  implored  to  die.  She  called  upon  my  name  in  her 
misery.  Wretch  that  I  was,  what  could  I,  a  worm,  do 
under  the  heel  of  the  tyrant?  But  I  saw  her  at  last.  I 
made  my  way  into  the  dungeon.  There  sat  she,  pale  as 
the  stone  to  which  she  was  chained,  a  silent,  sightless, 
bloodless,  mindless  skeleton.  I  called  to  her;  she  knew 
nothing.  I  pressed  my  lips  to  hers;  she  never  felt  them. 
I  bathed  her  cold  hands  in  my  tears;  I  fell  at  her  feet;  I 
prayed  to  her  but  to  pronounce  one  word;  to  give  some 
sign  of  remembrance ;  to  look  on  me.  She  sat  like  a  statue ; 
her  reason  was  gone,  gone  forever!"  He  flung  himself 
upon  the  ground  and  writhed  and  groaned  before  me.  To 
turn  him  from  a  subject  of  such  sorrow,  I  asked  what  he 
meant  to  do  by  his  intercourse  with  Florus. 


192  8ALATH1EL. 

"To  do  ?  Not  to  stab  him  in  his  bed ;  not  to  poison  Kim 
in  his  banquet;  not  to  smite  him  with  that  speedy  death 
which  would  be  mercy;  no,  but  to  force  him  into  ruin 
step  by  step ;  to  gather  shame,  remorse  and  anguish  round 
him,  cloud  on  cloud;  to  mix  evil  in  his  cup  with  such  ex- 
quisite slowness  that  he  shall  taste  every  drop ;  to  strike 
him  only  so  far  that  he  may  feel  the  pang  without  being 
stunned;  to  mingle  so  much  of  hope  in  his  undoing  that 
he  may  never  enjoy  the  vigor  of  despair;  to  sink  him  into 
his  own  Tartarus  inch  by  inch,  till  every  fibre  has  its  par- 
ticular agony."  He  yelled,  suddenly  rose  from  the  ground, 
and  rushed  forward  and  threaded  the  thickets  with  a 
swiftness  that  made  my  pursuit  in  vain. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  violence  of  the  beggar's  anguish,  and  the  strong 
probabilities  of  his  story,  engrossed  me  so  much,  that 
I  at  first  regretted  the  extraordinary  flight  which  put  it 
cut  of  my  power  to  offer  him  any  assistance.  I  returned 
with  a  feeling  of  disappointment  to  the  spot  where  I  had 
left  my  horse,  and  was  riding  towards  the  higher  country, 
to  avoid  the  enemy's  straggling  parties,  when  I  heard  a 
loud  outcry.  On  a  crag  so  distant  that  I  thought  human 
speed  could  scarcely  have  reached  it  in  the  time,  I  saw 
this  strange  being  making  all  kinds  of  signals,  sometimes 
pointing  to  me,  then  to  some  object  below  him ;  and  utter- 
ing a  cry  which  might  easily  be  mistaken  for  the  howl  of 
a  wild  beast. 

I  reined  up:  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  ascertain 
whether  he  were  warning  me  of  danger,  or  apprising  others 
of  my  approach.  Great  stakes  make  man  suspicious;  and 
the  prince  of  Naphtali,  speeding  to  the  capture  of  the 
principal  armory  of  the  legions,  might  be  an  object  well 
worth  a  little  treachery.  I  rapidly  forgot  the  beggar's 
sorrows  in  the  consideration  of  his  habits;  decided  that  his 
harangue  was  a  piece  of  professional  dexterity,  probably 
played  off  every  week  of  his  life ;  and  that,  if  I  would  not 
be  in  Roman  hands  before  night,  I  must  ride  in  the  pre- 
cisely opposite  directions  to  that  which  his  signals  so  labori- 
ously recommended.  Nothing  grows  with  more  vigor  than 


8ALATBIEL.  193 

the  doubt  of  human  honesty.  I  satisfied  myself  in  a  few 
moments  that  I  was  a  dupe;  dashed  through  thicket,  over 
rock,  forded  torrent,  and,  from  the  top  of  an  acclivity,  at 
which  even  my  high-mettled  steed  had  looked  with  re- 
pugnance, saw,  with  the  triumph  of  him  who  deceives  the 
deceiver,  the  increased  violence  of  the  impostor's  attitudes. 
He  leaped  from  crag  to  crag  with  the  activity  of  a  goat; 
and  when  he  could  do  nothing  else,  gave  the  last  evidence 
of  Oriental  vexation  by  tearing  his  robes.  I  waved  my 
hand  to  him  in  contemptuous  farewell,  and  dismounting, 
for  the  side  of  the  hill  was  almost  precipitous,  led  my 
panting  Arab  through  beds  of  wild  myrtle,  and  every  lovely 
and  sweet-smelling  bloom,  to  the  edge  of  a  valley  that 
seemed  made  to  shut  out  every  disturbance  of  man. 

A  circle  of  low  hills,  covered  to  the  crown  with  foliage, 
surrounded  a  deep  space  of  velvet  turf,  kept  green  as  the 
emerald  by  the  moisture  of  a  pellucid  lake  in  its  centre, 
tinged  with  every  color  of  heaven.  The  beauty  of  this 
sylvan  spot  was  enhanced  by  the  luxuriant  profusion  of 
almond,  orange,  and  other  trees,  that  in  every  stage  of  pro- 
duction, from  the  bud  to  the  fruit,  covered  the  little  knolls 
below,  and  formed  a  broad  belt  round  the  lake. 

Parched  as  I  was  by  the  intolerable  heat,  this  secluded 
haunt  of.  the  very  spirit  of  freshness  looked  doubly  lovely. 
My  eyes,  half-blinded  by  the  glare  of  the  sands,  and  even 
my  mind,  exhausted  by  the  perplexities  of  the  day,  found 
delicious  relaxation  in  the  verdure  and  dewy  breath  of  the 
silent  valley.  My  barb,  with  the  quick  sense  of  animals 
accustomed  to  the  travel  of  the  wilderness,  showed  her 
delight  by  playful  boundings,  the  prouder  arching  of  her 
neck,  and  the  brighter  glancing  of  her  bright  eye. 

"Here,"  thought  I,  as  I  led  her  slowly  towards  the 
steep  descent,  "would  be  the  very  spot  for  the  innocence 
that  had  not  tried  the  world,  or  the  philosophy  that  had 
tried  it,  and  found  all  vanity.  Who  coulrt  dream  that, 
within  the  borders  of  this  distracted  land,  in  the  very 
hearing,  almost  within  the  very  sight,  of  the  last 
miseries  that  man  can  inflict  on  man,  there  was  a  retreat 
which  the  foot  of  man  perhaps  never  yet  defiled,  and  in 
which  the  calamities  that  afflict  society  might  be  as  little 
felt,  as  if  it  were  among  the  stars !" 

A  violent  plunge  of  the  barb  put  an  end  to  my  specula* 


194  8ALATBIEL. 

tion.  She  exhibited  the  wildest  signs  of  terror,  snorted, 
and  strove  to  break  from  me ;  then  fixing  her  glance  keenly 
on  the  thickets  below,  shook  in  every  limb.  Yet,  the  scene 
was  tranquillity  itself;  the  chameleon  lay  basking  in  the 
sun,  and  the  only  sound  was  that  of  the  wild  doves, 
murmuring  under  the  broad  leaves  of  the  palm-trees.  But 
my  mare  still  resisted  every  effort  to  lead  her  downwards ; 
her  ears  were  fluttering  convulsively ;  her  eyes  were  starting 
from  their  sockets.  I  grew  peevish  at  the  animal's  unusual 
obstinacy,  and  was  about  to  let  her  suffer  thirst  for  the  day, 
when  I  was  startled  by  a  tremendous  roar.  A  lion  stood  on 
the  summit,  which  I  had  but  just  quitted.  He  was  not  a 
dozen  yards  above  my  head,  and  his  first  spring  must  have 
carried  me  to  the  bottom  of  the  precipice.  The  barb  burst 
away  at  once.  I  drew  the  only  weapon  I  had — a  dagger, 
and,  hopeless  as  escape  was,  grasping  the  tangled  weeds  to 
sustain  my  footing,  awaited  the  plunge.  But  the  lordly 
savage  probably  disdained  so  ignoble  a  prey,  and  continued 
on  the  summit,  lashing  his  sides  with  his  tail,  and  tearing 
up  the  ground.  He  at  length  stopped  suddenly,  listened, 
as  to  some  approaching  foot,  and  then,  with  a  hideous  yell, 
sprang  over  me,  and  was  in  the  thicket  below  at  a  single 
bound. 

The  whole  thicket  was  instantly  alive;  the  shade  which 
I  had  fixed  on  for  the  seat  of  unearthly  tranquillity,  had 
been  an  old  haunt  of  lions;  and  the  mighty  herd  were 
now  roused  from  their  noon-day  slumbers.  Nothing  could 
be  grander  or  more  terrible  than  this  disturbed  majesty 
of  the  forest  kings.  In  every  variety  of  savage  passion 
from  terror  to  fury,  they  plunged,  tore,  and  yelled ;  dashed 
through  the  lake,  burst  through  the  thicket,  rushed  up  the 
hills,  or  stood  baying  and  roaring  in  defiance,  as  if  against 
a  coming  invader;  their  numbers  were  immense,  for  the 
rareness  of  shade  and  water  had  gathered  them  from  every 
quarter  of  the  desert. 

While  I  stood  clinging  to  my  perilous  hold,  and  fearful 
of  attracting  their  gaze  by  the  slightest  movement,  the 
source  of  the  commotion  appeared,  in  the  shape  of  a  Roman 
soldier  issuing,  spear  in  hand,  through  a  ravine  at  the 
further  side  of  the  valley.  He  was  palpably  unconscious 
of  the  formidable  place  into  which  he  was  entering;  and 
the  gallant  clamor  of  voices  through  the  hills,  showed  that 


SALATHIEL.  195 

he  was  followed  by  others  as  bold  and  as  unconscious  of 
their  danger  as  himself.  But  his  career  was  soon  closed; 
his  horse's  feet  had  scarcely  touched  the  turf,  when  a  lion 
was  fixed  with  fang  and  claw  on  the  creature's  loins.  The 
rider  uttered  a  cry  of  horror,  and  for  an  instant  sat  help- 
lessly gazing  at  the  open  jaws  behind  him.  I  saw  the 
lion  gathering  up  his  flanks  for  a  second  b'ound;  but  the 
soldier,  a  figure  of  gigantic  strength,  grasping  the  nostrils 
of  the  monster  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  short- 
ening his  spear,  drove  the  steel  at  one  resistless  thrust  into 
the  lion's  forehead.  Horse,  lion,  and  rider  fell,  and  con- 
tinued struggling  together. 

In  the  next  moment,  a  mass  of  cavalry  came  thundering 
down  the  ravine.  They  had  broken  off  from  their  march, 
through  the  accident  of  rousing  a  straggling  lion,  and  fol- 
lowed him  in  the  giddy  ardor  of  the  chase.  But  the  sight 
now  before  them  was  enough  to  appall  the  boldest  intre- 
pidity. The  valley  was  filled  with  the  vast  herd;  retreat 
was  impossible,  for  the  troopers  came  still  pouring  in  by 
the  only  pass,  and,  from  the  sudden  descent  of  the  glen, 
horse  and  man  were  rolled  head  foremost  among  the  lions ; 
neither  man  nor  monster  could  retreat.  The  conflict  was 
horrible;  the  heavy  spears  of  the  legionaries  plunged 
through  bone  and  brain;  the  lions,  made  more  furious  by 
wounds,  sprang  upon  the  powerful  horses  and  tore  them 
to  the  ground,  or  flew  at  the  troopers'  throats,  and  crushed 
and  dragged  away  cuirass  and  buckler.  The  valley  was  a 
struggling  heap  of  human  and  savage  battle;  man,  lion, 
and  charger,  writhing  and  rolling  in  agonies,  till  their 
forms  were  undistinguishable.  The  groans  and  cries  of  the 
legionaries,  the  screams  of  the  mangled  horses,  and  the 
roars  and  bowlings  of  the  lions,  bleeding  with  sword  and 
spear,  tearing  the  dead,  darting  up  the  sides  of  the  hills 
in  terror,  and  rushing  down  again  with  the  fresh  thirst 
of  gore,  baffled  all  conception  of  fury  and  horror.  But 
man  was  the  conqueror  at  last;  the  savages,  scared  by  the 
spear,  and  thinned  in  their  numbers,  made  a  rush  in  one 
body  towards  the  ravine,  overthrew  everything  in  their  way, 
and  burst  from  the  valley,  awaking  the  desert  for  many 
a  league  with  their  roar. 

The  troopers,  bitterly  repenting  their  rash  exploit, 
gathered  up  the  remnants  of  their  dead  on  litters  of  boughs, 


196  SALATBIEL. 

and,  leaving  many  a  gallant  steed  to  feast  of  vultures, 
slowly  retired  from  the  place  of  carnage.  The  spot  to 
which  I  clung,  made  ascent  or  descent  equally  difficult; 
and  during  this  extraordinary  contest  1  continued  im- 
bedded in  the  foliage,  and  glad  to  escape  the  eye  of  man 
and  brute  alike.  But  the  troop  were  now  gone;  beneath 
me  lay  nothing*  but  a  scene  of  blood,  and  I  began  to  wind 
my  way  to  the  summit.  A  menace  from  below  stopped  me. 
A  solitary  horseman  had  galloped  back,  to  give  a  last  look 
to  this  valley  of  death;  he  saw  me  climbing  the  hill,  saw 
that  I  was  not  a  Eoman,  and,  in  the  irritation  of  the  hour, 
made  no  scruple  of  sacrificing  a  native  to  the  rianes  of  his 
comrades.  The  spear  followed  his  words,  and  ploughed  the 
ground  at  my  side.  His  outcry  brought  back  a  dozen  of  his 
squadron ;  I  found  myself  about  to  be  assailed  by  a  general 
discharge.  Escape  on  foot  was  impossible;  and  I  had  no 
resource  but  to  be  speared,  or  to  descend,  and  give  myself 
up  to  the  soldiery. 

It  was  to  warn  me  of  this  hazard  that  the  signals  of  my 
strange  companion  were  made.  He  saw  the  advance  of  the 
Eoman  column  along  the  plain.  My  suspicions  of  his 
honesty  drove  me  directly  into  their  road,  and  the  chance 
of  turning  down  the  valley  scarcely  retarded  the  capture. 
On  my  first  emerging  from  the  hills,  I  must  have  been 
taken.  However,  my  captors  were  in  unusual  ill-temper. 
As  an  Arab,  too  poor  to  be  worth  plundering  or  being  made 
prisoner,  I  should  have  met  only  a  sneer  or  an  execration, 
and  been  turned  loose;  but  the  late  disaster  made  the 
turban  and  alhaik  odious,  and  I  was  treated  with  the  wrath 
due  to  a  fellow-conspirator  of  the  lions.  To  my  request 
that  I  should  be  suffered  to  depart  in  peace  on  my  business, 
the  most  prompt  denial  was  given;  the  story  that  I  told 
to  account  for  my  travel  in  the  track  of  the  column,  was 
treated  with  the  simplest  scorn;  I  was  pronounced  a  spy, 
and  fairly  told  that  my  head  was  my  own  only  till  I  gave 
the  procurator  whatever  information  it  contained. 

Yet  I  found  one  friend,  in  this  evil  state  of  my  expe- 
dition. My  barb,  which  I  had  given  up  for  lost  in  the 
desert,  or  torn  by  the  wild  beasts,  appeared  on  the  heights 
overhanging  our  march,  and  by  snuffing  the  wind,  and 
bounding  backwards  and  forwards  through  the  thickets, 
attracted  general  attention.  I  claimed  her,  and  the  idea 


SALATHIEL.  197 

that  the  way-sore  and  rough-clothed  prisoner  could  be  the 
master  of  so  noble  an  animal,  raised  scorn  to  its  most 
peremptory  pitch.  In  turn  I  demanded  permission  to  prove 
my  right;  and  called  the  barb.  The  creature  heard  the 
voice  with  the  most  obvious  delight,  bounded  towards  me, 
rubbed  her  head  to  my  feet,  and  by  every  movement  of 
dumb  joy  showed  that  she  had  found  her  master. 

Still  my  requests  for  dismissal  were  idle;  I  talked  to 
the  winds ;  the  rear  squadrons  of  the  column  were  in  sight ; 
and  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  I  was  suffered  to  mount 
the  barb,  but  her  bridle  was  thrown  across  the  neck  of  one 
of  the  troopers'  horses,  and  I  was  marched  along  to  tor- 
ture, or  a  tedious  captivity.  My  blood  boiled,  when  I 
thought  of  what  was  to  be  done  before  the  dawn.  "How 
miserable  a  proof  had  I  given  of  the  vigilance  and  vigor 
that  were  to  claim  the  command  of  armies!"  I  writhed 
in  every  nerve.  My  agitation  at  length  caught  the  eye 
of  a  corpulent  old  captain,  whose  good-humored  visage  was 
colored  by  the  deepest  infusion  of  the  grape.  His  strong 
Thracian  charger  was  ?  movable  magazine  of  the  choicest 
Falernian;  out  of  every  crevice  of  his  packsaddle  and  ac- 
coutrements peeped  the  head  of  a  flask;  and,  to  judge  by 
his  frequent  recourse  to  his  stores,  no  man  was  less  inclined 
to  carry  his  baggage  for  nothing.  Popularity,  too,  at- 
tended upon  the  captain,  and  a  group  of  young  patricians 
attached  to  the  procurator's  court  were  content  to  abate 
of  their  rank,  and  ride  along  Avith  the  old  soldier,  in  con- 
sideration of  his  better  knowledge  of  the  grand  military 
science,  providing  for  the  road. 

In  the  midst  of  some  camp  story,  which  the  majority 
received  with  peals  of  applause,  the  captain  glanced  upon 
me,  and,  asking  "whether  I  was  not  ill,"  held  out  his 
flask.  I  took  it,  and  never  did  I  taste  draught  so  delicious. 
Thirst  and  hunger  are  the  true  secrets  of  luxury.  I  abso- 
lutely felt  new  life  rushing  into  me  with  the  wine. 

"There,"  said  the  old  man,  "see  how  the  fellow's  eye 
sparkles.  Falernian  is  the  doctor,  after  all.  I  have  had 
no  other  those  forty  years.  For  hard  knocks,  hard  watches, 
and  hard  weather,  there  is  nothing  like  the  true  juice  of 
the  vine.  Try  it  again,  Arab."  I  declined -the  offer  in 
civil  terms. 

''There,"  said  he,  "it  has  made  the  man  eloquent.     By 


198  8ALATHIEL. 

Hercules,  it  would  make  his  mare  speak.  And,  now  that 
I  look  at  her,  she  is  as  prettily-made  a  creature  as  I  have 
seen  in  Syria ;  her  nose  would  fit  in  a  drinking-cup.  What 
is  her  price,  at  a  word?" 

I  answered  that  "she  was  not  to  be  sold." 

"Well,  well,  say  no  more  about  it,"  replied  the  jovial 
old  man ;  "I  know  you  Arabs  make  as  much  of  a  mare  as 
of  a  child,  and  I  never  meddle  in  family  affairs." 

A  haughty-looking  tribune,  covered  with  embroidery 
and  the  other  coxcombry  of  the  court  soldier,  spurred  his 
charger  between  us,  and  uttered  with  a  sneer — "What, 
captain,  by  Venus  and  all  the  Graces !  giving  this  beggar  a 
lecture  in  philosophy,  or  a  lesson  in  politeness  ?  If  you  will 
not  have  the  mare,  I  will.  Dismount,  slave !" 

The  officers  gathered  to  the  front,  to  see  the  progress  of 
the  affair.  I  sat  silent. 

"Slave !  do  you  hear  ?  Dismount !  You  will  lose  noth- 
ing, for  you  will  steal  another  in  the  first  field  you  come 
to." 

"I  know  but  one  race  of  robbers  in  Judea,"  replied  I. 

The  old  captain  reined  up  beside  me,  and  said,  in  a 
whisper — "Friend,  let  him  have  the  mare.  He  will  pay 
you  handsomely;  and,  besides  he  is  the  nephew  of  the 
procurator.  It  will  not  be  wise  in  you  to  put  him  in  a 
passion." 

"That  fellow  never  shall  have  her,  though  he  were  to 
coin  these  sands  into  gold,"  replied  I. 

"Do  you  mean  to  call  us  robbers  ?"  said  the  tribune,  with 
a  louring  eye. 

"Do  you  mean  to  stop  me  on  the  high  road,  and  tak'1 
my  property  from  me,  yet  expect  that  I  shall  call  you 
anything  else?"  was  the  answer. 

"Sententious  rogues,  those  Arabs!  Every  soul  of  thorn 
has  a  point,  or  a  proverb,  on  his  tongue,"  murmured  the 
captain  to  the  group  of  young  men,  who  were  evidently 
amused,  by  seeing  their  unpopular  companion  entangled 
with  me. 

"Slave!"  said  the  tribune  fiercely,  "we  must  have  no 
more  of  this.  You  have  been  found  lurking  about  the 
camp.  Will  you  be  hanged  for  a  spv?" 

"A  spy !"  said  I ;  and  the  insult  probably  colored  my 
cheek.  "A  spy  has  no  business  among  the  Romans." 


SALATIIIEL.  199 

"So,"  observed  the  captain,  "the  Arab  seems  to  think 
that  our  proceedings  are  in  general  pretty  palpable — Slay, 
strip,  and  burn."  He  turned  to  the  patrician  tribune. 
"The  fellow  is  not  worth  our  trouble.  Shall  I  let  him 
go  about  his  business?" 

"Sir,"  said  the  tribune,  angrily,  "it  is  your  business  to 
command  your  troop,  and  be  silent."  The  old  man  bit  his 
lip,  and  fell  back  to  the  line  of  his  men.  My  taunter  reined 
up  beside  me  again.  "Do  you  know,  robber,  that  I  can 
order  you  to  be  speared  on  the  spot  for  your  lies  ?" 

"No ;  for  I  have  told  you  nothing  but  the  truth,  of  both 
of  us.  Such  an  order  too  would  only  prove  that  men  will 
often  bid  others  do  what  they  dare  not  touch  with  a  finger 
of  their  own." 

The  officers,  offended  at  the  treatment  of  their  old  favor- 
ite, burst  into  a  laugh.  The  coxcomb  grew  doubly  indig- 
nant. "Strip  the  hound,"  exclaimed  he  to  the  soldiers: 
"it  is  money  that  makes  him  insolent." 

"Nature  has  done  it,  at  least  for  one  of  us,  without  the 
expense  of  a  mite,"  replied  I,  calmly. 

"Off  with  his  turban !  Those  fellows  carry  coin  in  every 
fold  of  it." 

The  officers  looked  at  each  other  in  surprise ;  the  captain 
hardly  suppressed  a  contemptuous  execration  between  his 
lips.  The  very  troopers  hesitated.  "Soldiers !"  said  I,  in 
the  same  unaltered  tone,  "I  have  no  gold  in  my  turban. 
An  Arab  is  seldom  one  of  those — the  outside  of  whose 
head  is  better  worth  than  the  in." 

The  perfumed  and  curled  locks  of  the  tribune,  sur- 
mounted by  a  helmet,  sculptured  and  plumed  in  the  most 
extravagant  style,  caught  every  eye;  and  the  shaft,  slight 
as  it  was,  went  home. 

"I'll  pluck  the  robber  off  his  horse  by  the  beard!"  ex- 
claimed the  tribune,  spurring  his  horse  upon  me,  and 
advancing  his  Land. 

I  threw  open  my  robe,  grasped  my  dagger,  and  sternly 
pronounced — "There  is  an  oath  in  our  line,  that  the  man 
who  touches  the  beard  of  an  Arab  dies."  He  was  not  pre- 
pared for  the  action;  hesitated,  and  finally  wheeled  from 
me.  The  old  captain  burst  out  into  an  involuntary  huzza ! 

"Take  the  beggar  to  the  camp,"  said  the  tribune,  as  he 
rode  away ;  "I  hate  all  scoundrels ;"  and  he  glanced  round 
the  spectators. 


200  SALATHIEL. 

"Then,"  exclaimed  I,  after  him,  as  a  parting  blow,  "you 
have  at  least  one  virtue,  for  you  can  never  be  charged  with 
self  love." 

This  woman-war  made  me  popular  on  the  spot.  The 
tribune  had  no  sooner  turned  his  horse's  head,  than  the; 
officers  clustered  together  in  laughter.  Even  the  iron 
visages  of  the  troopers  relaxed  into  grim  smiles.  The  olJ 
jocular  captain  was  the  only  one  still  grave. 

"There  rides  not  this  day  under  the  canopy  of  heaven," 
murmured  he,  "a  greater  puppy  than  Caius  Sempronius 
Catulus,  tribune  of  the  thirteenth  legion,  by  his  mother's 
morals  and  the  emperor's  taste.  Why  diJ  not  the  cox- 
comb stay  at  home,  and  show  off  his  trappings  among  the 
supper-eaters  of  the  Palatine?  He  might  have  powdered 
his  ringlets  with  gold-dust,  washed  his  hands  in  rose-water, 
and  perfumed  his  handkerchief  with  myrrh,  as  well  there 
as  here ;  for  he  does  nothing  else.  Except,"  and  he  clenched 
the  heavy  hilt  of  his  falchion,  "insult  men  who  have  seen 
more  battles  than  he  has  seen  years,  who  know  better 
service  than  bowing  in  courts,  and  the  least  drop  of  whose 
blood  is  worth  all  that  will  ever  run  in  his  veins.  But  I 
have  not  done  with  him  yet.  As  for  you,  friend,"  said  he, 
"I  am  sorry  to  stop  you  on  your  way;  but  as  this  affair 
will  be  magnified  by  that  fool's  tongue,  you  must  be 
brought  to  the  procurator.  However,  the  camp  is  only  a 
few  miles  off;  you  will  be  asked  a  few  questions,  and  then 
left  to  follow  your  will."  He  little  dreamed  how  I  recoiled 
from  that  interview. 

To  shorten  the  time  of  my  delay,  the  good-natured  old 
man  ordered  the  squadron  to  mend  their  pace ;  and  in  half 
an  hour  we  saw  the  noon  encampment  of  my  sworn  enemy, 
lifting  its  white  tops  and  scarlet  flags  among  the  umbrage 
of  a  forest,  deep  in  the  valley  at  our  feet. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  squadron  drew  up  at  the  entrance  of  the  procur- 
ator's tent,  and  with  a  crowd  of  alarmed  peasants  captured 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  I  was  delivered  over  to  be  ques- 
tioned by  this  man  of  terror.  The  few  minutes  which 
passed  before  I  was  called  to  take  my  turn  were  singularly 


SALATHIEL.  201 

painful.  This  was  not  fear ;  for  the  instant  sentence  of  the 
axe  would  have  been  almost  a  relief  from  the  hopeless  and 
fretful  thwartings  sown  so  thickly  in  my  path.  But  to  have 
embarked  in  a  noble  enterprise,  and  to  perish  without  use; 
to  have  arrived  almost  within  sight  of  the  point  of  my  de- 
sires, and  then,  without  striking  a  blow,  to  be  given  up  to 
shame,  stung  me  like  a  serpent. 

My  heart  sprang  to  my  lips  when  I  heard  myself  called 
into  the  presence  of  Florus.  He  was  lying  upon  a  couch} 
with  his  never-failing  cup  before  him,  and  turning  over 
some  papers  with  a  shaking  hand.  Care  or  conscience  had 
made  ravages  even  in  him,  since  I  saw  him  last.  He  was 
still  the  same  figure  of  excess,  but  his  cheek  was  hollow; 
the  few  locks  on  his  head  had  grown  a  more  snowy  white, 
and  the  little  pampered  hand  was  as  thin  and  yellow  as  the 
claw  of  the  vulture,  that  he  so  much  resembled  in  his 
soul. 

With  his  head  scarcely  lifted  from  the  table,  and  with 
eyes  that  seemed  half  shut,  he  asked  whence  I  had  come, 
and  whither  I  was  going.  My  voice,  notwithstanding  my 
attempt  to  disguise  it,  struck  his  acute  ear.  His  native 
keenness  was  awake  at  once.  He  darted  a  fiery  glance  at 
me,  and,  striking  his  hand  on  the  table,  exclaimed — "By 
Hercules,  it  is  the  Jew !"  My  altered  costume  again  per- 
plexed him.  "Yet,"  said  he,  in  soliloquy,  "that  fellow 
went  to  Nero,  and  must  have  been  executed.  Ho !  send  in 
the  tribune  who  took  him."  Catulus  entered;  and  his 
account  of  me  was,  luckily,  contemptuous  in  the  extreme. 
I  was  "a  notorious  robber,  who  had  stolen  a  handsome 
horse,  perfectly  worthy  of  the  stud  of  the  procurator."  I 
panted  with  the  hope  of  escape,  and  was  gradually  moving 
to  the  door.  "Stand,  Slave!"  cried  Florus;  "I  have  my 
doubts  of  you  still;  and  as  the  public  safety  admits  of  no 
mistake,  I  have  no  alternative.  Tribune,  order  in  the 
lictors.  He  must  be  scourged  into  confession."  The  lictors 
were  summoned,  and  I  was  to  be  torn  by  Eoman  tor- 
turers. 

A  tumult  now  arose  outside,  and  a  man  rushed  in  with 
the  lictors,  exclaiming,  "Justice,  most  mighty  Floras !  By 
the  majesty  of  Rome,  and  the  magnanimity  of  the  most 
illustrious  of  governors,  I  call  for  justice  against  my 
plunderer,  my  undoer,  the  robber  of  the  son  of  El  Hakim, 
of  his  most  precious  treasure." 


202  SALATHIEL. 

Floras  recognized  the  clamorer  as  an  old  acquaintance, 
and  desired  him  to  state  his  complaint,  and  with  as  much 
brevity  as  possible. 

"Last  night,"  said  the  man,  "I  was  the  happy  possessor 
of  a  mare,  fleet  as  the  ostrich,  and  shapely  as  the  face  of 
beauty.  I  had  intended  her  as  a  present  for  the  most 
illustrious  of  procurators,  the  great  Floras,  whom  the  gods 
long  preserve!  In  the  hour  of  my  rest,  the  spoiler  came, 
noiseless  as  the  fall  of  the  turtle's  feather,  but  cruel  as  the 
viper's  tooth.  When  I  arose,  the  mare  was  gone.  I  was 
in  distraction.  I  tore  my  beard ;  I  beat  my  head  upon  the 
ground ;  I  cursed  the  robber  wherever  he  went,  to  the  sun- 
rising  or  the  sun-setting,  to  the  mountains  or  the  valleys. 
But  fortune  sits  on  the  banner  of  my  lord  the  procurator, 
and  I  came  for  hope  to  his  conquering  feet.  In  passing 
through  the  camp,  what  did  I  see  but  my  treasure — the 
delight  of  my  eyes,  the  drier  up  of  my  tears !  I  have  come 
to  claim  justice,  and  the  restoration  of  my  mare,  that  I 
may  have  the  happiness  to  present  her  to  the  most  renowned 
of  mankind/' 

I  had  been  occupied  with  the  thought  whether  I  should 
burst  through  the  lictors  or  rush  on  the  procurator.  But 
the  length  and  loudness  of  this  outcry  engrossed  every  one. 
The  orator  was  my  friend  the  beggar !  He  pointed  fiercely 
to  me.  If  looks  could  kill,  he  would  not  have  survived  the 
look  that  I  gave  the  traitor  in  return. 

"There,"  said  Floras,  "is  your  plunderer.  Sabat,  have 
you  ever  seen  him  before?" 

The  beggar  strode  insolently  towards  me.  "Seen  him 
before!  ay,  a  hundred  times.  What!  Ben  Ammon,  the 
most  notorious  thief  from  the  Nile  to  the  Jordan.  My  lord, 
every  child  knows  him.  Hah,  bv  the  gods  of  mv  fathers, 
by  my  mother's  bosom,  by  shaft  and  by  shield,  he  has 
stolen  more  horses  within  the  last  twenty  years  than  would 
remount  all  the  cavalry  from  Beersheba  to  Damascus !  It 
was  but  last  night  that,  as  I  was  leading  my  mare,  the 
gem  of  my  eyes,  my  pearl " 

I  now  began  to  perceive  the  value  of  my  eloquent  friend's 
interposition. 

"An  Arab  horse-thief — that  alters  the  case,"  said  the 
'procurator.  "Ho!  did  you  not  say  that  the  mare  was 
intended  for  me?  Lictor,  go  bring  this  wonder  to  the 
door." 


SAL  AT  HI  EL.  203 

The  voluble  son  of  El  Hakim  followed  the  lictor,  and  re- 
turned, crying  out  more  furiously  than  before  against 
me.  His  "pearl,  the  delight  of  his  eyes,  was  spoiled — 
was  utterly  unmanageable.  I  had  put  some  of  my  villain- 
ous enchantments  upon  her,  for  which  I  was  notorious.** 

The  procurator's  curiosity  was  excited :  he  rose,  and  went 
to  take  a  view  of  the  enchanted  animal.  I  followed :  and 
certainly  nothing  could  be  more  singular  than  the  restive- 
ness  which  the  son  of  El  Hakim  contrived  to  make  her 
exhibit.  She  plunged,  she  bounded,  bit,  reared,  and  flung 
out  her  heels  in  all  directions.  Every  attempt  to  lead  or 
mount  her  was  foiled  in  the  most  complete  yet  most  ludi- 
crous manner.  The  young  cavalry  officers  came  from  all 
sides,  and  could  not  be  restrained  from  boisterous  laugh- 
ter, even  by  the  presence  of  the  procurator.  Florus  him- 
self at  last  became  among  the  loudest.  Even  I,  accustomed 
as  I  was  to  daring  horsemanship,  was  surprised  at  the  ec- 
centric agility  of  this  unlucky  rider.  He  was  alternately 
on  the  animal's  back  and  under  her  feet;  he  sprang  upon 
her  from  behind,  he  sprang  over  her  head,  he  stood  upon 
the  saddle,  but  all  in  vain;  he  had  scarcely  touched  her 
when  she  threw  him  up  in  the  air  again,  amid  the  per- 
petual roar  of  the  soldiery. 

At  length,  with  a  look  of  dire  disappointment,  he  gave 
up  the  task ;  and,  as  scarcely  able  to  drag  his  limbs  along, 
prostrated  himself  before  Florus,  praying  that  he  would 
order  the  Arab  thief  to  unsay  the  spells  that  had  turned 
"the  gentlest  mare  in  the  world  into  a  wild  beast."  The 
consent  was  given  with  a  haughty  nod;  and  I  advanced  to 
play  my  part  in  a  performance,  of  whose  objects  I  had  not 
a  conception.  The  orator  delivered  the  barb  to  me  with 
a  look  so  expressive  of  cunning,  sport,  and  triumph,  that, 
perplexed  as  I  was,  I  could  not  avoid  a  smile.  My  experi- 
ment was  rapidly  made.  The  mare  knew  me,  and  was 
tractable  at  once.  This  only  confirmed  the  charge  of  my 
necromancy.  But  the  son  of  El  Hakim  professed  himself 
altogether  dissatisfied  with  so  expeditious  a  process,  and  de- 
manded that  I  should  go  through  the  regular  steps  of  the 
art.  In  the  midst  of  the  fiercest  reprobation  of  my  unhal- 
lowed dealings,  a  whisper  from  him  put  me  in  possession 
of  his  mind. 

I  now  went  through  the  process  used  by  the  travelling 


204  8ALATHIEL. 

jugglers ;  and  if  the  deepest  attention  of  an  audience  could 
reward  my  talents,  mine  received  unexampled  reward.    My 

tazings  on  the  sky,  whisperings  in  the  barb's  ear,  grotesque 
gures  traced  on  the  sand,  wild  gestures  and  mysterious 
•jargon,  thoroughly  absorbed  the  intellects  of  the  honest 
legionaries.  If  I  had  been  content  with  fame,  I  might  have 
spread  my  reputation  through  the  Koman  camps  as  a  con- 
jurer of  the  first  magnitude.  I  was,  however,  beginning 
to  be  weary  of  my  exhibition,  and  longed  for  the  signal, 
when  Sabat  approached,  and  loudly  testifying  that  I  had 
clearly  performed  my  task,  threw  the  bridle  over  the  ani- 
mal's head,  and  whispered,  "Now  I" 

My  heart  panted;  my  hand  was  on  the  mane:  I  glanced 
round  to  see  that  all  was  safe,  before  I  gave  the  spring, 
when  Florus  screamed  out,  "The  Jew!  by  Tartarus,  it  is 
the  Jew  himself.  Drag  down  the  circumcised  dog."  With 
cavalry  on  every  side  of  me,  forcible  escape  was  out  of  the 
question. 

"Undone,  undone!"  were  the  words  of  my  wild  friend, 
as  he  passed  me.  And  when  I  saw  him  once  more  in  the 
most  earnest  conversation  with  Florus,  I  concluded  that 
the  discovery  was  complete.  I  was  in  utter  despair.  I 
stood  sullenly  waiting  the  worst,  and  gave  an  internal 
curse  to  the  more  than  malevolence  of  fortune. 

The  conversation  continued  so  long  that  the  impatience 
of  those  around  me  began  to  break  out. 

"On  what  possible  subject  can  the  procurator  suffer  that 
mad  fellow  to  have  so  long  an  audience?"  said  a  young 
patrician. 

"On  every  possible  subject,  I  should  conceive,  from  the 
length  of  the  conference,"  was  the  reply. 

"Florus  knows  his  man,"  said  a  third ;  "that  mad  fellow 
i?  a  regular  spy,  and  receives  more  of  the  emperor's  coin  in 
a  month  than  we  do  in  a  year." 

The  tribune  now  broke  into  the  circle,  and  with  a  look 
of  supreme  scorn,  affectedly  exclaimed,  "Come,  knight  of 
the  desert,  sovereign  of  the  sands,  let  us  have  a  specimen 
of  your  calling.  Stand  back,  officers;  this  egg  of  Ishmarl 
is  to  quit  plunder  so  soon,  that  he  would  probably  like  to 
die  as  he  lived — in  the  exercise  of  his  trade.  Here,  slave, 
show  us  the  most  approved  method  of  getting  possession 
of  another  man's  horse." 


&ALAT31EL.  205 

I  stood  in  indignant  silence.  The  tribune  threatened. 
A  thought  struck  me;  I  bowed  to  the  command,  let  the 
barb  loose,,  and  proceeded  according  to  the  theory  of  horse- 
stealing.  I  approached  noiselessly,  gesticulated,  made  mys- 
tic movements  and  gibbered  witchcraft  as  before.  The 
animal,  with  natural  docility,  suffered  my  experiments.  I 
continued  urging  her  towards  the  thinner  side  of  the  circle. 
"Now,  noble  Romans,"  said  I,  "look  carefullv  to  the  next 
spell,  for  it  is  the  triumph  of  the  art/' 

Curiosity  was  in  every  countenance.  I  made  a  genu- 
flexion to  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  devoted  a  gesture 
of  peculiar  solemnity  to  the  procurator's  tent,  and  while 
all  eyes  were  drawn  in  that  direction,  sprang  on  the  barb's 
back,  and  was  gone  like  an  arrow. 

I  heard  a  clamor  of  surprise,  mingled  with  outrageous 
laughter,  and,  looking  round,  saw  the  whole  crowd  of  the 
loose  riders  of  the  encampment  in  full  pursuit  up  the  hill. 
Florus  was  at  his  tent  door,  pointing  towards  me  with 
furious  gestures.  The  trumpets  were  calling,  the  cavalry 
mounting:  I  had  roused  the  whole  activity  of  the  little 
army. 

The  slope  of  the  valley  was  long  and  steep;  and  the 
heavy  horsemanship  of  the  legionaries,  who  were  perhaps 
not  very  anxious  for  my  capture,  soon  threw  them  out.  A 
little  knot  of  the  more  zealous  alone  kept  up  a  pursuit, 
from  which  I  had  no  fears.  An  abrupt  rock  in  the  middle 
of  the  ascent  at  length  hid  them  from  me.  To  gain  a  last 
view  of  the  camp,  I  doubled  round  the  rock,  and  saw,  a 
few  yards  below  me,  the  tribune,  with  his  horse  completely 
blown.  I  owed  him  a  debt,  partly  on  my  own  account,  and 
partly  on  that  of  the  old  captain,  which  I  had  determined 
to  discharge  at  the  earliest  possible  time.  I  darted  upon 
him.  He  was  all  astonishment:  a  single  buffet  from  my 
naked  hand  knocked  the  helpless  taunter  off  his  charger. 
"Tribune,"  cried  I,  as  he  lay  upon  the  ground,  "you  have 
had  one  specimen  of  my  art  to-day,  now  you  shall  have 
another.  Learn  in  future  to  respect  an  Arab."  I  caught 
his  horse's  bridle,  gave  the  animal  a  lash,  and  we  bounded 
away  together.  The  scene  was  visible  to  the  whole  camp ; 
the  troopers,  who  had  reined  up  on  the  declivity,  gave  a 
roar  of  merriment,  and  I  heard  the  old  corpulent  captain's 
laugh  above  it  all. 


206  8ALATHIEL> 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

I  HAD  escaped;  but  the  delay  was  ruinous.  The  eun 
sank  when  I  reached  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  and  Ma- 
sada  lay  many  a  weary  mile  forward.  I  cast  off  the  trib- 
une's horse,  thus  giving  his  insolent  master  evidence  that 
I  did  not  understand  the  main  point  of  my  trade;  and 
stood  pondering  to  what  point  of  the  mighty  ridge  that  rose 
blue  along  the  horizon  I  should  turn ;  when,  in  the  plunge 
of  the  horse,  as  he  felt  himself  at  liberty,  his  saddle  came 
to  the  ground.  The  possibility  of  its  containing  reports 
of  the  state  of  the  enemy  led  me  to  examine  its  pockets; 
they  were  stuffed  with  letters  worthy  of  the  highest  circles 
of  Italian  high  life ;  the  ill-spelled  registers  of  an  existence 
at  a  loss  how  to  lose  its  time;  of  libertinism  sick  of  in- 
dulgence; and  of  pecuniary  embarrassment  driven  to  the 
most  hopeless  and  whimsical  resource- 

A  glance  at  a  few  of  those  epistles  was  enough,  and  I 
scattered  into  the  air  the  reputations  of  half  the  high- 
born maids  and  matrons  of  Rome,  but,  as  I  was  turning 
away  with  an  instinctive  exclamation  of  scorn  at  this  com- 
pendium of  patrician  life,  my  eye  was  caught  by  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  governor  of  Masada.  In  opening  it  I 
committed  no  violation  of  diplomacy ;  for  it  held  no  secret 
other  than  an  angry  remission  of  his  allegiance  by  some 
wearied  fair  one,  who  announced  her  intended  marriage 
with  the  tribune. 

My  revenge  was  thus  to  go  further  than  my  intent ;  for 
I  deprived  him  of  the  personal  triumph  of  delivering  this 
calamitous  despatch  to  his  rival.  Yet,  on  second  thoughts, 
conceiving  that  some  cipher  might  lurk  under  its  ab- 
surdity, I  secured  the  paper,  and,  giving  the  rein,  left  the 
whole  secret  correspondence  of  debt,  libel  and  love  to  the 
delight  of  mankind.  I  flew  along;  my  indefatigable  barb, 
as  if  she  felt  her  master's  anxieties,  put  forth  double  speed. 
But  I  had  yet  a  fearful  length  to  traverse.  The  night  fell 
thick  and  rude;  but  I  had  no  time  to  think  of  rest  or 
shelter.  I  pushed  on.  The  wind  rose  and  wrapped  me  in 
whirls  of  sand.  I  heard  the  roar  of  waters.  The  ground 
became  fractured  and  full  of  the  loose  fragments  that  fall 
from  rocky  hills.  I  discovered  only  that  I  was  at  the 
foot  of  the  ridge  and  had  lost  my  way.  In  this  embar- 


SALATH1EL.  207 

rassnient  I  trusted  to  the  sagacity  of  my  steed.  But  thirst 
led  her  directly  to  one  of  the  mountain  torrents,  and  the 
phosphoric  gleam  of  the  waters  alone  saved  us  both  from 
a  plunge  over  a  precipice,  deep  enough  to  extinguish  every 
appetite  and  ambition  in  the  round  of  this  bustling  world. 

To  find  a  passage,  or  an  escape,  I  alighted.  The  tor- 
rent bellowed  before  me.  A  wall  of  rock  rose  on  the  op- 
posite side.  After  long  climbings  and  descents  I  found 
that  I  had  descended  too  deep  to  return.  Oh,  how  I  longed 
for  the  trace  of  man,  for  the  feeblest  light  that  ever 
twinkled  from  the  cottage  window !  I  felt  the  plague  of 
helplessness.  To  attempt  the  torrent  was  impossible.  To 
linger  where  I  stood  till  dawn  was  misery. 

"What  would  be  going  on  meanwhile?  Perhaps,  at  the 
very  time  while  I  was  standing  in  wretched  doubt,  im- 
prisoned among  those  pestilent  cliffs,  the  deed  was  do- 
ing! Constantius  was,  with  ineffectual  gallantry,  assault- 
ing the  fortress ;  my  brave  kinsmen  were  pouring  out  their 
lives  under  the  Eoman  spears ;  and  I  was  not  there !" 

A  fitful  sound  came  mingling  with  the  roar  of  the 
cataract;  it  swelled  and  vanished  away  like  the  rush- 
ings  of  the  gale.  A  trumpet  rang,  but  so  feebly,  that  noth- 
ing but  the  keenness  of  an  ear  straining  to  catch  the 
slightest  sound  could  have  distinguished  it.  I  heard  re- 
mote shouts;  they  deepened,  the  echo  of  trumpets  fol- 
lowed. "The  assault  has  begun !  The  work  of  glory  and 
of  death  was  doing.  Every  instant  cost  a  life.  The  hail- 
stones that  bruised  me  were  not  thicker  than  the  arrows 
that  were  then  smiting  down  my  people.  Yet  there  was 
I  like  a  wolf  in  the  pitfall !" 

Even  where  the  combat  was  being  fought  baffled  my 
conception.  It  might  be  in  the  clouds,  or  underground, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  black  ridge  before  me,  or 
many  a  league  beyond  the  reach  of  my  exhausted  linibs 
and  drooping  steed;  all  was  darkness  to  the  eye  and  the 
mind. 

A  light  flashed  down  a  ravine  leading  into  the  heart  of 
the  mountains ;  another  and  another  blazed.  Masada  stood 
upon  the  mountain's  brow ! 

I  instantly  plunged  into  the  torrent — was  beaten  down 
by  the  billows — was  swept  along  through  narrow  channels 
of  rock,  until,  half -suffocated,  I  was  hurled  up  against  the 


208  SALATBIEL 

opposite  cliff.     Wet  and  weary,  I  less  climbed  than  tore 
4jtny  way  upwards.     But  the  torrent  had  borne  me  far 
Vbelow  the  ravine.     Before  me  was  a  gigantic  rampart  of 
rock.     But  the  time  was  flying.     I  dragged  myself  up  to 
the  face  of  the  precipice  by  the  chance  brushwood.     I 
swung  from  point  to  point  by  the  few  projecting  branches 
that  yet  broke  away  almost  in  my  grasp;  until,  with  un- 
hands excoriated,  my  limbs  stiff  and  bleeding  and  my  head 
*  reeling,  I  reached  the  pinnacle. 

Was  I  under  the  dominion  of  a  spell?    Was  the  power 

of  some  fiend  raised  to  mock  me?     All  was  darkness  as 

far  as  the  eye  could  pierce:  the  heaviest  veil  of  midnight 

hung  upon  the  earth.     There  was  utter  silence.     Not  the 

->•'  slightest  sound  touched  upon  the  ear. 

For  awhile  the  thought  of  some  strange  illusion  was 
paramount;  then  came  the  frightful  idea  that  the  illusion 
was  in  myself;  that  in  the  effort  to  gain  the  ascent  I  had 
strained  eye  and  ear  until  I  could  neither  hear  nor  see; 
that  I  was  still  within  sight  and  sound  of  battle,  but  in- 
sensible to  the  impressions  of  the  external  world  forever. 
Immortality  under  this  exclusion !  A  deathlcssness  of  the 
deaf  and  blind !  The  thought  struck  me  with  a  force  in- 
conceivable by  all  minds  but  one  sentenced  like  mine ! 

In  my  despair  I  cried  aloud.  A  flood  of  joy  rushed  into 
my  heart  when  I  heard  my  voice  answered,  though  it  was 
but  by  the  neigh  of  my  barb  below,  which  probably  felt 
itself  as  ill-placed  as  its  master.  I  now  used  my  ear  as 
the  guide,  and  cautiously  descending  the  further  side  of 
the  ridge,  was  soon  on  comparatively  level  ground,  the 
remnant  of  a  forest.  My  foot  struck  against  a  human 
body;  I  spoke,  the  answer  was  a  groan  and  an  entreaty 
that  I  should  bear  a  small  packet,  which  was  put  into  my 
hands,  "to  the  Prince  of  Naphtali !"  In  alarm  and  as- 
tonishment I  raised  the  sufferer,  gave  him  some  water 
from  my  flask,  and,  after  many  an  effort,  in  which  I 
thought  that  life  would  depart  every  moment,  he  told  me 
that  "he  was  the  unfortunate  leader  of  the  assault  of 
Masada."  Constantius  lay  in  my  arms ! 

"Where  I  am/'  said  he,  as  he  slowly  recovered  his  senses, 
"how  I  came  here,  or  anything,  but  that  we  are  undone,  I 
cannot  conceive.  My  last  recollection  was  of  fixing  a  lad- 
der to  the  inner  rampart.  We  had  made  our  way  good 


SALATS1EL. 

so  far  without  loss.  The  garrison  was  weakened  by  de- 
tachments sent  out  to  plunder,  for  the  arrival  of  the 
procurator.  I  attacked  at  midnight.  To  surprise  a  Roman 
fortress  was,  I  well  knew,  next  to  impossible ;  and  no  man 
ever  found  a  Roman  garrison  without  bravery.  But  our 
bold  fellows  did  wonders.  Everything  was  driven  from 
the  first  rampart;  we  made  more  prisoners  than  we  knew 
what  to  do  with;  and  in  the  midst  of  all  kinds  of  resist- 
ance, we  laid  our  ladders  to  the  second  wall.  But  the  gar- 
rison were  still  too  strong  for  us.  Our  easy  conquest  of 
the  first  line  might  have  been  a  snare,  for  the  battlements 
before  us  exhibited  an  overwhelming  force.  We  fought 
on;  but  the  ladders  were  broken  with  showers  of  stones 
from  the  engines.  The  business  looked  desperate;  but  I 
had  made  up  my  mind  not  to  go  back,  after  having  once 
got  in ;  and,  rallying  the  men,  I  carried  a  ladder  through  a 
storm  of  lances  and  arrows  to  the  foot  of  the  main  tower. 
I  was  bravely  followed,  and  we  were  within  grasp  of  the 
battlement  when  I  saw  a  cohort  rush  out  from  a  sally-port 
below.  This  was  fatal;  the  foot  of  the  rampart  was 
cleared  at  once;  the  ladders  were  flung  down;  and,  I  sup- 
pose, it  is  owing  to  the  ill-judged  fidelity  of  some  of  my 
followers  that  I  am  unfortunate  enough  to  find  myself 
here  and  alive." 

During  the  endless  hours  of  this  miserable  night  I  la- 
bored, with  scarcely  a  hope,  to  keep  life  in  my  heroic  son. 
My  coming  had  saved  him.  The  exposure  and  his  wounds 
must  have  destroyed  him  before  morning.  We  consulted 
sadly  on  our  next  course.  I  suggested  the  possibility  of 
gaining  the  fortress  by  a  renewal  of  the  attack  while  the 
garrison  were  unprepared,  or  perhaps  indulging  them- 
selves in  carousal  after  their  success.  The  necessity  of 
some  attempt  was  strongly  in  my  mind,  and  I  expressed 
my  determination  to  run  the  hazard  if  I  could  find  where 
the  remnant  of  our  troop  had  taken  refuge.  But  this 
was  the  difficulty.  Signals  of  any  kind  must  rouse  the 
vigilance  of  the  Romans.  The  fortress  was  above  our 
heads;  and  to  collect  the  men  during  the  night  was  im- 
possible. 

While  I  watched  the  restless  tossings  of  Constantius  a 
light  stole  along  the  ground  at  a  distance.  My  first  idea 
that  a  Roman  patrol  was  coming  to  extinguish  our 


210  8ALATHIEL. 

last  remains  of  hope.  But  the  light  was  soon  perceived  to 
be  in  the  hand  of  some  one  cautious  of  discovery.  To 
keep  its  bearer  at  a  distance,  I  followed  the  track,  and 
grasped  him. 

."I  surrender,"  said  the  captive,  perfectly  at  his  ease. 
"Long  life  to  the  Emperor!"  He  lifted  the  lamp  to  my 
face  and  burst  into  laughter.  "May  I  have  a  Roman 
falchion  through  me,"  said  he,  "but  I  think  we  were  born 
under  the  same  planet.  By  all  the  food  that  has  entered 
my  lips  this  day,  I  took  your  highness  for  a  thief;  and, 
pardon  the  word,  for  a  Roman  one.  I  have  been  running 
after  you  the  whole  day  and  night."  He  continued  to 
talk  and  writhe,  with  a  kind  of  mad  merriment.  I  could 
not  obtain  an  answer  to  my  questions  of  what  led  him 
there — how  he  could  guide  us  out  of  the  forest — or  what 
news  he  brought  from  the  procurator?  He  less  walked 
than  danced  before  me  through  the  thickets  as  our  scene 
with  Florus  recurred  to  his  fantastic  mind. 

"Never  was  trick  so  capital  as  your  escape,"  he  ex- 
claimed; "I  would  have  given  an  eye  or  an  arm,  things 
rather  an  impediment  to  a  beggar  I  allow;  but  it  would 
have  been  worth  a  kingdom  to  see,  as  I  saw,  the  faces  of 
the  whole  camp,  procurator,  officers,  troopers  and  all 
down  to  the  horse-boys,  on  your  slipping  through  their  fin- 
gers in  such  first-rate  style.  I  have  done  clever  things  in 
my  time;  but  never,  no  never,  shall  I  equal  that  way  of 
making  five  thousand  men  at  once  look  like  five  thousand 
fools.  I  own  I  thought  that  you  would  do  something 
brilliant;  and  it  was  for  that  purpose  that  I  tried  to  draw 
off  the  eye  of  that  scoundrel  Florus,  for,  sot  as  he  is, 
there  are  not  ten  in  Palestine  keener  in  all  points  where 
roguery  is  concerned.  I  caught  hold  of  his  robe,  told  him 
a  ready  lie  of  the  largest  size  about  a  discovery  of  coin  in 
Jerusalem;  and  while  he  was  nibbling  at  the  bait  I  heard 
the  uproar.  You  were  off;  I  could  not  help  laughing  in 
his  illustrious  face.  He  kicked  me  from  him,  and,  foam- 
ing with  rage,  ordered  every  man  and  horse  out  after  your 
highness.  But  I  saw  at  a  glance  that  you  had  the  game 
in  your  own  hands.  You  skimmed  away  like  a  bird;  an 
eagle  could  not  have  got  up  that  long  hill  in  finer  con- 
dition. Away  you  went,  bounding  from  steep  to  steep, 
like  a  stone  from  a  sling;  you  cut  the  air  like  a  shaft.  I 


SALATBIEL. 

have  seen  many  a  mare  in  my  time;  but  as  for  the  equal 
of  yours — why,  a  pair  of  wings  would  be  of  no  use  to  her. 
She  is  a  paragon,  a  bird  of  paradise,  an  ostrich  on  four 
legs,  a " 

I  checked  his  volubility  and  led  him  to  the  rough  bed- 
side of  Constantius.  I  could  not  have  found  a  better 
auxiliary.  He  knew  every  application  used  in  the  med- 
icine of  the  time;  and,  to  give  him  credit  on  his  own 
showing,  all  diseases  found  in  him  an  enemy  worth  all 
the  doctors  of  Asia.  "He  had  travelled  for  his  knowledge ; 
he  had  fought  with  death  from  the  Nile  to  the  Ganges, 
and  could  swear  that  the  sharks  and  crocodiles  owed  him 
a  grudge  throughout  the  world.  He  had  cured  rajahs  and 
satraps  till  he  made  himself  unpopular  in  every  court 
where  men  looked  to  vacancies ;  had  kept  rich  old  men  out 
of  their  graves  until  there  was  a  general  conspiracy  of 
heirs  to  drive  him  out  of  the  country;  and  had  poured 
life  into  so  many  dying  husbands  that  the  women  made  a 
universal  combination  against  his  own." 

This  flow  of  panegyric,  however,  did  not  impede  his 
present  services.  He  applied  his  herbs  and  bandages  with 
professional  dexterity,  and,  kindling  a  fire,  prepared  some 
food,  which  went  further  to  cheer  the  patient  than  even 
his  medicine.  He  still  talked  away,  like  one  to  whom  words 
were  a  necessary  escape  for  his  surcharge  of  animal  spirits. 
"He  knew  everything  in  physic.  He  had  studied  in  Egypt 
and  could  compound  the  true  essential  extract  of  mummy, 
with  any  man  that  wore  a  beard,  from  the  Cataracts  to 
the  bottom  of  the  Delta.  He  once  walked  to  the  Moun- 
tains of  the  Moon  to  learn  the  secret  of  powdered  chryso- 
lite. On  the  Himmaleh  he  picked  up  his  knowledge  of 
the  bezoar;  and  a  year's  march  through  sands  and  snows 
rewarded  him  at  once  with  a  bag  of  the  ginseng,  most 
marvellous  of  roots,  and  the  sight  of  the  wall  of  China, 
most  endless  of  walls." 

How  he  stooped  to  veil  this  accumulation  of  knowl- 
edge in  rags  he  did  not  condescend  to  explain.  But  his 
skill  so  far  was  certainly  admirable,  and  my  brave  Con- 
stantius recovered  with  a  suddenness  that  surprised  me. 
With  his  strength  his  hopes  returned.  "Oh,"  exclaimed 
he,  awaking  from  a  refreshing  sleep,  "that  I  were  once 
again  at  the  foot  of  the  rampart  with  the  ladder  in  my 
hand!" 


SALATB1EL. 

"By  my  father's  beard/'  replied  the  leecn,  "you  are 
much  better  where  you  are;  for,  observe,  though  I  can 
go  further  than  any  doctor  between  the  four  rivers,  yet  I 
never  professed  to  cure  the  dead.  Take  Masada  by  scale! 
Ha !  ha !  take  the  clouds  by  scale !  You  would  have 
found  three  walls  within  the  one  to  which  they  decoyed 
you.  Herod  was  the  prince  of  builders  and  could  have 
built  out  everything,  but  the  champion  that  carries  no 
arms  but  a  scythe  and  cares  as  little  for  kings  as  for  Sa- 
bat  the  beggar." 

"Then  you  know  Masada?"  interrupted  I,  eagerly. 

"Know  it,  yes;  every  loophole,  window,  door,  ay — and 
dungeon,  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other." 

Still,  my  escape  from  the  camp  was  so  congenial  to 
his  ideas  of  pleasantry  that  it  mingled  with  all  its  topics. 
War  and  politics  went  for  nothing  compared  with  the 
adroitness  of  eluding  Roman  insolence.  "By  Jove !"  said 
he,  "when  I  played  my  tricks  with  that  pearl  of  pearls,  that 
supreme  of  horseflesh,  your  barb,  I  was  clumsy;  I  played 
the  clown;  you  beat  me  hollow;  it  was  matchless;  it  was 
my  purse  in  prospect  of  your  generosity  to  its  emptiness 
this  night" — he  made  a  profound  obeisance — "to  see  those 
fellows  panting  up  the  hill  after  you,  nearly  killed  me." 

"But,  the  fortress?" 

"Oh!  as  to  the  fortress,  the  notion  of  attacking  it  was 
madness.  I  had  my  doubts  of  your  intention,  and  broke 
loose  from  the  camp,  to  give  you  the  benefit  of  my  ad- 
vice. But  the  tribune ;  ha !  ha !  never  was  coxcomb  so 
rightly  served.  You  won  the  heart  of  the  whole  legion 
by  the  single  blow  that  spared  him  the  trouble  of  sitting 
his  horst.  The  troopers  could  not  keep  their  saddles  for 
laughing ;  and  as  for  the  old  fat  captain,  I  was  only  afraid 
that  he  would  roar  himself  out  of  the  world.  I  owed  my 
escape  partly  to  him;  and  his  last  words  were,  'Rascal,  if 
you  ever  fall  in  with  the  Arab,  whom  I  suspect  to  be  as 
pleasant  a  rogue  as  yourself,  tell  him  that  I  wish  I  had  a 
dozen  such  in  my  squadron/  " 

"But  is  there  any  possibility  of  knowing  the  present 
state  of  the  garrison?" 

"Ay,  there  is  the  misfortune.  Yesterday  I  could  have 
got  in,  and  got  out  again,  like  a  wild  cat.  But,  after  this 
night's  visit,  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose  th#f  they  may 


8ALATHIEL  213 

be  a  little  more  select  in  their  hospitality.  The  governor 
has  a  slight  correspondence  of  his  own  to  carry  on ;  a  trifle, 
in  the  way  of  trade;  I  had  the  honor  to  be  smuggler  ex- 
traordinary to  his  Mightiness;  and,  as  in  state  secrets 
everything  ought  to  be  kept  from  the  vulgar,  my  path  in 
and  out  was  by  a  portcullis,  far  enough  from  gates  and 
sentinels;  through  which  portcullis  I  should  have  shown 
you  the  way,  if  the  attack  had  waited  for  me  a  few  hours 
longer.  That  chance  is,  of  course,  cut  off  now.  But  see, 
yonder  comes  the  morning." 

"Then  we  must  move,  or  have  the  garrison  on  us." 

"I  forbid  that  manoeuvre,"  interrupted  the  fellow,  with 
easy  audacity. 

Constantius  and  I,  in  equal  surprise,  bade  him  be  si- 
lent. Yet  the  quietness  with  which  he  took  the  rebuke 
propitiated  me  and  I  asked  his  reason. 

"Nothing  more  than  that  if  you  stir  you  are  ruined. 
The  hare  is  safest  near  the  kennel.  The  outlaw  sleeps 
sounder  in  the  magistrate's  stable  than  he  ever  slept  in 
his  den.  I  once  escaped  hanging  by  coolly  walking  into 
a  jail.  There  stands  Masada !"  and  he  pointed  to  what 
looked  to  me  a  heap  of  black  clouds  gathered  on  the  moun- 
tain's brow. 

"Not  a  soul  that  you  have  left  alive  there  will  dream  of 
your  being  within  a  stone's  throw.  The  copse  is  thick 
enough  to  hide  a  man  from  everything  but  a  creditor,  an 
evil  conscience,  or  a  wife;  stir  out  of  it  and  they  are  on 
your  heels.  I  dislike  them  so  heartily  that  I  hope  never 
to  have  the  honor  of  their  attendance.  But,  you  are  not 
mad  enough  to  think  of  trying  them  again?" 

"Mad,  fellow !"  I  exclaimed ;  "you  forget  in  whose 
presence  you  are."  He  continued  making  some  new  ar- 
rangement of  the  bandages  on  his  patient's  wounds;  and, 
without  taking  the  slightest  notice  of  my  displeasure, 
cheered  his  work  with  a  song. 

"Mad,  or  wise,"  said  I  in  soliloquy,  "I  shall  lie  in  the 
ditch  of  that  fortress,  or  in  its  citadel,  before  next  sun- 
rise." 

"You  may  lie  in  both,"  said  the  beggar,  pursuing  his 
occupation  and  his  song.  "Mad !  why  not ;  all  the  world 
are  in  the  same  way.  The  emperor  is  mad  enough  to  stay 
where  men  have  hands  and  knives.  His  people  are  mad 


214  8ALATHIEL. 

enough  to  let  their  throats  be  cut  by  him.  Florus  is  mad 
enough  to  sleep  another  night  in  Palestine.  You  are  mad 
enough  to  attack  his  garrison;  and  I — am  mad  enough 
to  go  along  with  you." 

"You  are  a  singular  being.  But,  will  you  hazard  your 
neck  for  nothing?" 

"Custom  makes  everything  easy,"  observed  he,  spanning 
his  muscular  neck  with  his  hand.  "I  have  been  so  many 
years  within  sight  of  the  cord,  and  all  other  expeditious 
modes  of  paying  the  only  debt  I  ever  intend  to  pay, 
and  that  only  because  it  is  the  last,  that  I  care  as  little 
about  the  venture  as  any  broken  gambler  about  his  last 
coin.  Well,  then — I  must  get  into  the  town;  you  must 
gather  your  troop  without  noise,  and  be  ready  for  my 
signal,  a  light  from  one  of  the  towers.  A  false  attack  must 
be  made  on  the  gates,  a  true  attack  must  be  made  by  the 
portcullis,  which,  if  it  be  not  stopped  up,  I  will  unlock; 
and  your  highness  may  eat  your  next  supper  off  the  gov- 
ernor's plate.  There's  a  plan  for  you!  I  should  have 
been  a  general.  But  merit — ay,  there's  the  rub — merit  is 
like  the  camel's  lading,  it  stops  him  at  the  gate,  while 
the  empty  slip  in.  It  is  like  putting  wings  upon  one's 
shoulders  when  the  race  is  to  be  run  upon  the  knees.  Too 
much  brain  in  a  man  is  like  too  much  bend  in  a  bow;  the 
bow  either  breaks  or  sends  the  arrow  a  mile  beyond  the 
mark.  Genius,  my  prince,  is " 

I  interrupted  the  general  in  his  progress  into  the  phi- 
losopher, and  demanded  whether  the  renewed  vigilance  of 
the  fortress  would  not  require  some  additional  expedient 
for  his  entry.  He  struck  his  forehead;  the  thought  came, 
as  the  flint  gives  its  spark,  and  he  produced  a  highly  orna- 
mented tablet.  "This,"  said  he,  "I  ought  to  employ  in 
your  service;  for  if  you  had  not  knocked  down  the  trib- 
une, I  could  never  have  picked  it  up.  In  making  my  run 
over  the  mountain  I  struck  upon  his  correspondence.  Oh ! 
the  curse  of  curiosity!  if  I  had  not  stopped  to  delight 
myself  with  the  whole  scandal  of  Home,  I  should  have 
been  here  in  time.  But  I  lingered,  lost  an  hour  in  laugh- 
ing, and  when  I  set  out  in  the  dusk,  lost  my  way,  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life.  Before  setting  off,  however,  I  wrote 
a  letter,  ridiculing  Florus  in  all  points,  burlesquing  the 
people  about  him,  scoffing  at  everybody  in  the  most  heroic 


SALATH1EL.  215 

style;  and,  having  subscribed  the  name  of  the  unlucky 
tribune,  addressed  it  to  one  of  the  most  notorious  per- 
sonages in  all  Italy  and  placed  it  where  it  is  sure  to  be 
seen,  and  as  sure  to  be  carried  to  the  most  noble  of  pro- 
curators. Now  could  I  not  begin  a  correspondence  with 
the  governor,  and  act  the  courier  myself?  Yet,  to  hit 
upon  the  subject "  He  paused. 

The  letter  that  I  had  found  occurred  to  me.  I  showed 
it  to  our  adroit  friend.  He  was  in  ecstasies.  He  kissed  it 
over  and  over,  and  played  some  of  those  antics  which 
had  made  me  almost  half  doubt  his  sanity.  He  flung  away 
the  tablet.  "Go,"  said  he;  "fiction  is  a  fine  thing  in  its 
way.  But  give  me  fact  when  I  want  to  entrap  a  great 
man.  He  is  so  little  used  to  truth  that  the  least  atom 
of  it  is  a  spell ;  the  fresh  bait  will  carry  the  largest  hook. 
Ay,  this  is  the  letter  for  us;  it  has  the  sincerity  of  the 
sex,  when  they  are  determined  to  jilt  a  man;  its  abuse 
will  cover  me  from  top  to  toe  with  the  cloak  of  a  true 
ambassador." 

"But  the  unpopularity  of  your  credentials,"  said  I, 
laughingly. 

"Let  the  potentate  by  whom  they  are  sent  settle  that 
affair  with  the  potentate  by  whom  they  are  received,"  re- 
plied he. 

"You  will  be  hanged." 

"I  shall  first  get  in." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  day  passed  anxiously,  for  every  sound  of  the  huge 
fortress  was  heard  in  the  thicket.  The  creaking  of  ma- 
chines, brought  up  to  the  walls  against  future  assault;  the 
rattling  of  hammers;  the  rolling  of  waggons  loaded  with 
materials  for  the  repair  of  the  night's  damage;  the  calls 
of  trumpet  and  clarion,  and  the  march  of  patrols  rang 
perpetually  in  our  ears.  The  depth  of  the  copse  justified 
the  beggar's  generalship,  and  the  son  of  El  Hakim  proved 
himself  a  master  of  the  art  of  castrametation.  Nothing 
could  exceed  his  alertness  in  threading  the  mazes  of  this 
dwarf  forest,  where  a  wolf  could  scarcely  have  made  prog- 
ress, and  where  a  lynx  would  have  required  all  his  eyes, 


216  8ALATHIEL. 

On  my  asking  how  he  contrived  to  find  his  way  through 
this  labyrinth,  he  told  me  that  "for  making  one's  way  in 
woods  and  elsewhere,  there  was  nothing  like  a  familiarity 
with  smuggling  and  affairs  of  state." 

"The  man,"  continued  he,  "who  has  driven  a  trade  in 
everything  from  pearls  to  pistachios,  without  leave  of  the 
customs,  cannot  be  much  puzzled  by  thickets;  and  the 
man  who  has  contrived  to  climb  into  confidence  at  court 
must  have  had  a  talent  for  keeping  his  feet  in  the  most 
slippery  spots,  or  he  never  could  have  mounted  the  back 
stairs." 

He  collected  the  scattered  troop,  of  whom  but  few  had 
fallen,  though  nearly  one-half  were  made  prisoners;  they 
were  eager  to  attempt  the  rampart  again,  all  boldly  at- 
tributing their  failure  to  accident,  and  all  thirsting  alike 
for  the  rescue  of  their  comrades  and  for  revenge.  The 
letter  was  given  to  our  emissary  and  I  ascended  the  loftiest 
of  the  mountain  pinnacles  to  examine  for  myself  the  na- 
ture of  the  ground.  From  the  height  the  view  was  com- 
plete; the  whole  interior  of  the  fortress  lay  open;  and  in 
the  same  glance  I  saw  the  grandeur  of  design,  which  Greek 
taste  could  stamp  even  upon  the  strength  of  military  ar- 
chitecture, and  the  utter  hopelessness  of  any  direct  assault 
upon  Masada  by  less  than  an  army. 

Who  but  he  that  has  actually  been  in  the  same  situation 
can  conceive  the  feelings  with  which  I  gazed !  Below  me 
was  the  spot  in  which  a  few  hours  must  see  me  con- 
queror or  nothing!  On  that  battlement  I  might,  before 
another  morn  be  stretched  in  blood !  on  that  tower  I  might 
be  fixed  a  horrid  spectacle !  Nature  is  irresistible,  and  her 
workings,  for  awhile,  overpowered  even  the  belief  in  my 
mysterious  sentence.  The  thought  has  always  terribly 
returned;  but  the  moment  of  energy  has  always  extin- 
guished it ;  the  hurrying  and  swelling  current  of  my  heart 
rolled  over  it,  as  the  winter  torrent  rushes  over  the  tomh 
on  its  brink.  The  melancholy  memorial  was  there,  sure  to 
reappear  with  the  first  subsiding;  but,  lost  while  the  flood 
of  feeling  whirled  along.  Every  group  of  soldiery  that 
sang,  or  gamed,  or  gazed,  along  the  ramparts,  under  the 
bright  and  quiet  day  which  followed  so  fearful  a  night ; 
every  archer  pacing  on  his  tower;  every  change  of  the 
guard;  every  entering  courier  was  visible  to  me,  and  all 


8ALATHIEL.  217 

were  objects  of  keen  interest.  At  length  my  courier  came. 
I  saw  his  approach  from  a  pass  of  the  mountains  at  the 
remotest  point  from  our  cover,  his  well-contrived  ex- 
haustion, and  the  fearless  impudence  with  which  he  be- 
guiled the  sulky  guard  at  the  gate,  and  stalked  before  the 
centurion  by  whom  he  was  brought  to  the  governor. 

With  what  eyes  of  impatience  I  now  watched  the  sun ! 
As  the  hour  of  fate  approached  the  fever  of  the  mind  grew. 
To  defer  the  attack  beyond  the  night  was  to  abandon  it; 
for  by  morn  the  troops  under  Florus  must  reach  Masada. 
Yet  a  strange  sensation,  a  chilliness  of  heart  sometimes 
came  on  me  in  which  my  hands  were  as  feeble  as  an 
infant's.  Nothing  tries  the  soul  more  deeply  than  this 
concentration  of  its  fortunes  into  a  few  moments.  The 
man  sees  himself  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice,  down 
which  there  is  .no  second  step.  But  the  thought  of  re- 
turning errandless  and  humiliated,  and  this,  too,  from  my 
first  enterprise,  was  intolerable.  I  made  my  decision. 

From  that  instant  I  breathed  freely,  my  strength  re- 
turned, hope  glowed  in  my  bosom;  and,  clinging  to  the 
granite  spire  of  the  mountain,  I  looked  down  upon  the 
haughty  stronghold,  like  its  evil  genius  descending  from 
the  clouds.  The  sun  touched  the  western  ridge.  A  horse- 
man came  at  full  speed  across  the  plain  at  its  foot  and 
entered  the  fortress.  He  evidently  brought  news  of  im- 
portance, for  the  troops  were  hurried  under  arms,  flags 
hoisted  on  the  ramparts  and  the  walls  lined  with  archers. 
All  was  military  bustle. 

My  first  conception  was  that  my  emissary  had  betrayed 
us  and  that  we  were  about  to  be  attacked.  I  plunged  from 
the  pinnacle  and  was  following  the  windings  of  the  goat 
track  to  our  lair,  when  I  saw  the  rising  of  a  cloud  of  dust 
in  the  distance.  It  moved  with  rapidity,  and  soon  devel- 
oped its  contents.  Intelligence  of  the  assault  had  reached 
Florus.  His  sagacity  saw  what  perils  turned  on  the  loss 
of  the  fortress;  he  shook  off  his  indolence  and  came  with- 
out delay  to  its  succor.  Banners,  helmets  and  scarlet  cloaks 
poured  across  the  plain.  A  torrent  of  brass,  burning  and 
flashing  in  the  sunbeam,  continued  to  roll  down  the  defile, 
and  before  the  evening  star  glittered  the  whole  cavalry 
of  the  fifteenth  legion  was  trampling  over  the  drawbridge 
of  Masada.  Here  was  the  death-blow.  My  enterprise  wa.g 


218  8ALATHIEL. 

henceforth  tenfold  more  hopeless;  but  with  me  the  time 
for  prudence  was  past.  If  the  reinforcement  had  arrived 
but  an  hour  before,  I  should  probably  have  given  up  the 
attempt  in  despair.  But  my  mind  was  now  fixed;  I  had 
made  an  internal  vow;  and  if  the  whole  host  of  Rome 
were  crowded  within  the  walls  beneath  me  I  should  have 
hazarded  the  assault. 

I  descended,  found  my  troop  collected ;  and,  to  my  alarm 
and  vexation,  Constantius,  enfeebled  as  he  was,  obsti- 
nately determined  to  assault  the  rampart  again.  With 
the  daring  «f  his  enthusiastic  heart  he  told  me  that  unless 
I  suffered  him  to  attempt  the  retrieval  of  his  defeat  he 
felt  it  impossible  to  survive. 

"Shame  and  grief,"  said  he,  "are  as  deadly  as  the 
sword;  and  never  will  I  return  to  the  face  of  her  whom 
I  love,  or  of  the  family  whom  I  honor,  .unless  I  can  re- 
turn with  the  consciousness  of  having  at  least  deserved  to 
be  successful." 

Against  this  I  reasoned,  but  reasoned  in  vain.  We 
finally  divided  our  followers.  I  gave  him  the  attack  of 
the  rampart,  which  was  to  be  the  place  of  his  triumph  or 
his  grave;  flung  myself  into  his  embrace,  and  listened  to 
his  parting  steps  with  a  heart  throbbing  at  every  tread. 
I  then  moved  round  the  foot  of  the  mountain  towards 
the  secret  passage.  The  night  fell  as  dark  as  we  could 
wish.  I  waited  impatiently  for  the  signal,  a  light  from 
the  walls.  Yet  no  signal  twinkled  from  wall  or  tower,  and 
I  began  to  distrust  again;  but  while  I  lingered  a  shout 
told  me  that  Constantius  was  already  engaged.  "Let  what 
will  come,"  exclaimed  I,  "onward !" 

We  scrambled  up  the  face  of  the  rock  and  at  length 
found  the  entrance  of  the  subterranean.  It  was  so  nar- 
row that  even  in  the  day  time  it  must  have  been  invisible 
from  below.  A  low  iron  door  a  few  yards  within  the  fis- 
sure was  the  first  obstacle.  To  beat  it  down  might  alarm 
the  garrison.  The  passage  allowed  but  of  our  advance 
one  by  one.  I  led  the  way,  hatchet  in  hand.  A  few 
blows  broke  the  stones  round  the  lock;  the  door  gave  way 
and  we  all  crept  in.  In  this  manner  we  wound  along  for 
a  distance  which  I  began  to  think  endless.  The  passage 
was  singularly  toilsome.  We  descended  steep  paths,  in 
which  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  we  coulcl 


SALATHIEL.  219 

keep  our  feet;  we  heard  the  rush  of  waters  through  the 
darkness ;  blasts  of  bitter  wind  swept  against  us ;  the  thick 
and  heavy  air  that  closed  round  us  after  them  almost  im- 
peded our  breathing;  and  from  time  to  time  sulphurous 
vapors  gave  the  fearful  impression  that  we  had  lost  our 
way  and  were  actually  in  the  bowels  of  a  burning  mine. 

My  hunters  still  held  on;  but  the  mere  fatigue  of  strug- 
gling through  this  poisoned  atmosphere  was  fast  exhaust- 
ing their  courage.  I  cheered  them  with  what  hopes  I 
could,  but  never  was  my  imagination  more  barren.  I  heard, 
at  every  step  I  took,  fewer  feet  following  me.  The  pesti- 
lential air  was  beginning  to  act  even  upon  myself,  but 
the  great  stake  was  playing  above,  and  onward  I  must  go. 
I  dared  not  speak  louder  than  a  whisper;  soon  no  whisper 
responded  to  mine.  I  tottered  on  until  overpowered  by 
the  feeling  that  our  sacrifice  was  in  vain,  a  sensation  like 
that  of  a  sickly  propensity  to  sleep  bound  up  my  facul- 
ties. 

A  roar  like  thunder  overhead  roused  me.  A  sight,  the 
most  superb,  burst  on  my  dazzled  eyes;  a  roof  of  seeming 
gold,  arched  so  high  that  even  its  splendor  was  partially 
dimmed;  walls  of  apparent  diamond,  pillared  with  a  thou- 
sand columns  of  every  precious  gem;  whole  shafts  of  em- 
erald; pavilions  of  jasper;  a  floor,  as  far  as  the  glance 
could  pierce,  studded  with  amethyst  and  ruby;  apparent 
treasures,  to  which  the  accumulated  spoils  of  the  Greek  or 
the  Persian  were  nothing;  the  finest  devices  of  the  most 
exquisite  art,  mingled  with  the  most  colossal  forms  which 
wealth  could  wear;  opulence  in  its  massive  and  negli- 
gent grandeur;  opulence  in  its  delicate  and  almost  spirit- 
ualized beauty,  were  before  me.  A  slender  flame  burning 
at  the  foot  of  an  idol  lighted  up  this  stupendous  temple. 

I  was  alone;  but  the  orifice  by  which  I  had  entered  was 
visible ;  the  light  shot  far  down  into  it  and  I  soon  brought 
forward  the  greater  number  of  my  troop.  All  were  equally 
wrapped  in  wonder,  and  the  superstitious  feelings  which 
the  presence  of  the  Eoman  and  Syrian  idolaters  had  par- 
tially generated  even  in  the  Jewish  mind  began  to  startle 
those  brave  men. 

"We  had,  perhaps,  come  into  forbidden  ground ;  the  gods 
of  the  earth,  whether  gods  or  demons,  were  powerful ;  and 
we  stood  in  the  violated  centre  of  the  mountain," 


220  SALATHIEL. 

For  the  first  time  I  found  the  failure  of  my  influence. 
A  few  adhered  to  me,  but  the  majority  calmly  declared 
that,  however  fearless  of  man,  they  dared  go  no  further. 
I  threw  myself  on  the  ground  before  the  entrance  of  the 
cavern  and  desired  them  to  consummate  their  crime  by 
trampling  on  their  leader.  But  they  were  determined  to 
retire.  I  taunted  them,  I  adjured  them,  I  poured  out 
the  most  vehement  reproaches.  They  stepped  over  me  as  I 
lay  at  the  mouth  of  the  fissure;  and  at  length  one  and  all 
left  me  to  cry  out  in  my  dazzling  solitude  against  the 
treachery  of  human  faith  and  the  emptiness  of  human 
wishes. 

The  roar  again  rolled  above;  I  heard  distant  shouts 
and  trumpets.  In  the  sudden  and  desperate  conscious- 
ness that  all  was  now  to  be  gained  or  lost,  I  rushed  after 
the  fugitives  to  force  them  back.  I  plunged  into  the  dark- 
ness and  grasped  the  first  figure  that  I  could  overtake. 
My  hand  fell  on  the  iron  cuirass  of  a  Roman!  my  blood 
ran  chill.  "Were  we  betrayed — decoyed  into  the  bowels 
of  the  mountain  to  be  massacred?" 

The  figure  started  from  me.  I  gave  a  blind  blow  of  the 
axe  and  heard  it  crush  through  his  helmet.  The  man  fell 
at  my  feet.  I  wildly  demanded,  "How  he  came  there  and 
how  we  might  make  our  way  into  the  light?" 

"You  are  undone,"  said  he,  faintly.  "Your  spy  was 
seized  by  the  procurator.  Your  attack  was  known  and 
the  door  of  the  subterranean  left  unguarded  to  entrap 
you.  This  passage  was  the  entrance  to  a  former  mine; 
and  in  the  mine  is  your  grave."  The  voice  sank,  he 
groaned,  and  was  no  more. 

His  words  were  soon  confirmed  by  the  hurried  return  of 
my  men.  They  had  found  the  passage  obstructed  by  a 
portcullis,  dropped  since  their  entrance.  Torches  were 
seen  through  the  fissures  above  and  the  sound  of  arms  rat- 
tled round  us.  The  ambush  was  complete.  "Now,"  said  I, 
"we  have  but  one  thing  for  it — the  sword,  first  for  our  . 
enemy,  last  for  ourselves.  If  we  must  die  let  us  not  die 
by  Roman  halters." 

One  and  all  we  rushed  back  into  the  mine.  But  we 
had  now  no  leisure  to  look  upon  the  beauty  of  those  spars 
and  crystals  which,  under  the  light  of  the  altar,  glittered 
and  blushed  with  such  gem-like  radiance.  From  that 


altar  now  rose  a  pyramid  of  fire;  piles  of  faggots,  con- 
tinually poured  from  a  grating  above,  fed  the  blaze  to 
intolerable  fierceness.  Smoke  filled  the  mine.  To  escape 
was  beyond  hope.  The  single  orifice  had  been  already 
tried.  Around  us  was  a  solid  wall  as  old  as  the  world.  It 
was  already  heating  with  the  blaze;  our  feet  shrank  from 
the  floor.  The  flame,  shooting  in  a  thousand  spires,  coiled 
and  sprang  against  the  roof,  the  walls  and  the  ground. 
To  remain  where  we  were  was  to  be  a  cinder.  The  ca- 
tastrophe was  inevitable. 

In  the  madness  of  pain,  I  made  a  furious  bound  into 
the  column  of  fire.  All  followed,  for  death  was  certain, 
and  the  sooner  it  came  the  better.  With  unspeakable 
feelings  I  saw,  at  the  back  of  the  mound  of  stone  on 
which  the  faggots  burned,  an  opening,  hitherto  concealed 
by  the  huge  figure  of  the  idol.  We  crowded  into  it;  here 
we  were  at  least  out  of  reach  of  the  flame.  But  what  was 
our  chance  but  that  of  a  more  lingering  death?  We  hur- 
ried in ;  another  portcullis  stood  across  the  passage !  What 
was  to  be  our  fate  but  famine?  We  must  perish  in  a  lin- 
gering misery — of  all  miseries  the  most  appalling;  and 
with  the  bitter  aggravation  of  perishing  unknown,  worth- 
less, useless,  stigmatized  for  slaves  or  dastards!  What 
man  of  Israel  would  ever  hear  of  our  deaths?  What 
chronicler  of  Rome  would  deign  to  vindicate  our  ab- 
sence from  the  combat? 

We  were  within  hearing  of  that  combat.  The  assault 
thundered  more  wildly  than  ever  over  our  heads;  the  al- 
ternate shout  of  Jew  and  Roman  descended  to  us.  But 
where  were  we  ?  caged,  dungeoned,  doomed !  If  the  earth 
had  laid  her  treasures  at  my  feet  that  night  I  would 
have  given  them  for  one  hour  of  freedom.  Oh!  for  one 
struggle  in  daylight  to  redeem  my  name  and  avenge  my 
country ! 

The  roar  of  battle  suddenly  sank.  "Was  all  lost? 
Constantius  slain?  for  with  life  he  would  not  yield.  Was 
the  whole  hope  of  Judea  crushed  at  a  blow?"  I  cried 
aloud  to  my  followers  to  force  the  portcullis.  They 
dragged  and  tore  at  the  bars.  But  it  was  of  a  solid 
strength  that  not  ten  times  ours  could  master. 

In  the  midst  of  our  hopeless  labors  the  sound  of  heavy 
blows  above  caught  my  ear,  and  fragments  of  rock  fell 


BALATHIEL. 

in;  the  blows  were  continued.  Was  this  but  a  new  ex- 
pedient to  crush  or  suffocate  us?  A  crevice  at  length 
showed  the  light  of  a  torch  overhead.  I  grasped  the  axe 
to  strike  a  last  blow  at  the  gate  and  die.  I  heard  a  voice 
pronounce  my  name !  Another  blow  opened  the  roof.  A 
face  bent  down  and  a  loud  laugh  proclaimed  my  crazy 
friend.  "Ha  !"  said  he,  "are  you  there  at  last  ?  You  have 
had  a  hard  night's  work  of  it.  But  come  up;  I  have  an 
incomparable  joke  to  tell  you  about  the  tribune  and  the 
procurator.  Come  up,  my  prince,  and  see  the  world." 

I  had  no  time  to  rebuke  his  jocularity.  I  climbed  up 
the  rugged  side  of  the  passage,  and  found  myself  still 
in  a  dungeon.  To  my  look  of  disappointment  he  gave  no 
other  answer  than  a  laugh;  and  unscrewing  a  bar  from 
the  loophole  above  his  head,  "It  is  my  custom,"  said  he, 
"to  make  myself  at  my  ease  wherever  I  go;  and  as  prisons 
fall  to  a  man's  lot,  like  other  things,  I  like  to  be  able 
to  leave  my  mansion  whenever  I  am  tired  of  it." 

"Forward,  then,"  said  I,  impatiently. 

"Backward,"  said  the  beggar,  with  the  most  unruffled 
coolness.  "That  loophole  is  for  me  alone.  I  may  be 
under  the  governor's  care  again  and  I  have  shown  it  to 
you  merely  as  a  curiosity.  Drink,  my  brave  fellows," 
said  he,  turning  to  the  troop  below  and  giving  them  a 
skin  of  wine.  "Soldiers  must  have  their  comforts,  my 
gallant  prince,  as  well  as  beggars.  If  that  villain  pro- 
curator hr<d  not  come  by  express  (for  no  man  alive  is 
quicker  to  catch  an  idea  where  he  is  likely  to  gain),  you 
should  have  been  by  this  time  sleeping  in  the  governor's 
bed,  and  the  governor  probably  supping  with  me.  But 
all  is  fortune,  good  and  bad,  in  this  world.  The  procu- 
rator, putting  your  escape  and  mine  together,  began  to 
think  that  his  presence  might  be  useful  here;  and  the 
laziest  rogue  in  Palestine  came  with  a  speed  that  might 
have  done  honor  to  the  quickest,  who  stands  before  you 
in  my  person.  I  had  gone  on  swimmingly  with  the  gov- 
ernor, on  the  strength  of  your  love  letter,  angry  as  it 
made  him.  But  the  first  sight  of  Florus  put  an  end  to 
my  chance  of  opening  the  gates  for  your  triumphal  entry. 
I  was  tied,  neck  and  heels,  and  flung  here,  to  be  gibbeted 
to-morrow  morning.  But  that  morning  has  not  come  yet." 

He  paced  the  cell  uneasily.     At  length  he  sprang  up, 


SALATHIEL. 

and,  looking  from  the  lopohole,  whispered,  "Now !"  A 
low  creaking  sound  of  machinery  followed.  "Down  into 
the  cavern,"  said  he;  "that  accursed  cohort  has  moved 
at  last.  Away,  my  prince,  and  seek  your  fortune." 

I  exhibited  some  reluctance  to  be  engulfed  again.  But 
his  countenance  assumed  a  sudden  sternness.  His  only 
word  was,  "Down  I"  As  we  were  parting  he  solemnly  pro- 
nounced, "May  whatever  power  befriends  the  righteous 
cause,  and  blasts  the  man  of  infamy  and  blood,  send  the 
lightnings  before  you !"  A  tear  stood  in  his  uplifted  eye. 
His  worn  countenance  flushed  as  he  spoke  the  words.  lie 
seized  a  spear  from  a  corner  and  plunged  after  me  into 
the  cavern. 

The  portcullis  had  been  drawn  up  by  Sabat;  the  pas- 
sage opened  at  the  foot  of  the  rampart.  I  could  have 
rushed  upon  an  army.  But  the  hand  of  our  guide  was  on 
my  shoulder.  "Your  attack,"  said  he,  "can  be  nothing, 
unless  it  be  by  a  surprise.  Move  along  unseen,  if  possible, 
till  you  come  to  the  flank  of  the  first  tower.  There  wait 
for  my  signal !"  He  was  gone. 

The  roar  of  the  assault  swelled  again,  though  it  was 
palpably  receding.  I  climbed  the  rampart  alone.  The 
torches  on  a  distant  battlement  showed  me  the  Komans 
in  force  and  evidently  making  way.  I  could  restrain 
myself  no  longer.  I  gave  the  word — concealed  by  the 
shadow  of  the  colossal  wall — fell  upon  the  guard  at  the 
gate  and  cast  it  open !  Constantius  was  the  first  who 
saw  me.  He  sprang  forward  with  a  cry  of  exultation. 
The  Romans  on  the  battlements  felt  themselves  cut  off, 
were  struck  with  panic,  and  threw  down  their  arms;  but 
we  had  more  important  objects,  and  rushed  back  to  the 
citadel.  Our  work  was  not  yet  done ;  we  were  entangled  in 
the  streets  and  lost  time.  The  garrison  was  strong  and 
fought  like  men  who  had  no  resource  but  in  the  sword. 
We  were  pressed  on  all  sides;  an  arrow  lodged  in  my 
shoulder,  and  I  could  wield  the  axe  no  more.  In  a  few 
discharges,  every  man  round  me  was  bruised  or  bleed- 
ing. I  saw  a  Roman  column  hurrying  along  the  ram- 
part, whose  charge  must  finish  the  battle  at  once.  But  a 
blaze  sprang  up  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy.  Another  and 
another  followed.  The  governor's  palace  was  on  fire ! 
The  sight  broke  the  Roman  courage.  Cries  of  "treach- 


224  BALATH1EL. 

ery"  rang  through  the  ranks;  they  turned,  flung  away 
spear  and  shield — and  I  was  master  of  the  strongest 
fortress  in  Palestine! 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

RESISTANCE  was  at  an  end,  and  we  had  now  only  to 
prevent  the  conflagration  from  snatching  the  prize  out  of 
'Our  hands.  The  flames  rose  fiercely,  and  another  hour 
might  see  the  famous  arsenal  beyond  the  power  of  man. 
Leaving  to  Constantius  the  care  of  securing  the  prisoners, 
I  entered  the  palace,  followed  by  a  detachment.  In  the 
tumult  I  had  missed  my  deliverer ;  yet  scarcely  could  think 
of  him,  or  anything  else,  while  the  enemy  were  showering 
lances  and  shafts  upon  us.  Bu  now,  some  fears  of  his 
extravagance  recurred  to  me,  and  I  ordered  strict  search 
to  be  made  for  him.  The  fire  had  seized  on  but  a  wing  of 
the  palace,  and  was  soon  extinguished.  I  was  ascending 
the  stair,  when  a  figure  bounded  full  against  me  from  a 
side-door.  It  was  the  beggar.  His  voice,  however,  was  my 
only  means  of  recognition,  for  his  outward  man  had  under- 
gone a  total  change.  He  wore  a  rich  cuirass  and  helmet,  a 
Greek  falchion  glittered  in  his  embroidered  belt,  a  tissued 
mantle  hung  over  his  shoulder,  and  a  spear  ponderous,  but 
inlaid  and  polished  with  the  nicest  art,  was  brandished  in 
his  hand.  "What,"  said  he,  "is  all.  over  ?  May  all  the  fogs 
of  earth  and  skies  cloud  me,  but  I  was  born  under  the 
most  malignant  planet  that  ever  did  mischief ;  I  left  you, 
only  to  do  some  business  of  my  own;  I  failed  there.  My 
next  business  was,  to  join  and  help  you  to  give  a  lesson  to 
those  Roman  hounds;  or,  if  they  were  to  give  the  lesson 
to  us,  take  chance  along  with  you,  and  exhibit  as  a  soldier. 
I  ventured  to  borrow  the  governor's  arms,  as  you  see;  but 
I  am  always  unlucky." 

"If  it  was  you  who  set  this  roof  on  fire,  your  torch  was 
worth  an  army." 

"Ay,  I  never  saw  fire  fail;  no  man  is  ashamed  of  run- 
ning away  from  a  blaze ;  and  I  thought  that  the  Romans 
were  tired  enough,  to  be  glad  of  the  excuse.  But  I  had  a 
point  besides  to  carry.  Florus  is  somewhere  under  these 


SALATHIEL.  225 

ceilings.  I  determined  to  burn  him  out,  and  pay  home 
my  long  arrears,  as  he  attempted  to  make  his  escape.  But 
you  have  just  extinguished  the  cleverest  earthly  contriv- 
ance for  the  discovery  of  rascal  governors;  and  I  must 
break  an  oath  I  made  long  ago,  against  his  ever  dying  in 
his  bed." 

"Florus  here !  then  we  must  find  him  without  delay. 
But,  who  comes?" 

At  the  word,  I  seized  a  slave  of  the  palace,  in  the  attempt 
to  escape.  He  begged  hard  for  his  life,  and  promised  to 
conduct  us  where  the  procurator  was  concealed.  We  hur- 
ried on  through  a  succession  of  winding  passages ;  a  strong 
door  stopped  us:  "There,"  said  the  slave. 

"By  the  beard  of  my  fathers,  the  wolf  shall  not  be  long 
in  his  den !"  cried  the  son  of  El  Hakim.  "Procurator, 
your  last  crime  is  committed." 

He  threw  himself  against  the  door  with  prodigious  force ; 
the  bars  burst  away,  and  before  us  lay  the  terror  of 
Judea ! 

He  was  to  be  a  terror  no  more.  A  cup,  the  inseparable 
amethystine  cup,  stood  on  the  table  besides  his  couch.  He 
lay  writhing  with  pain.  His  countenance  wore  the  ghast- 
liest hue  of  death.  I  bade  him  surrender.  He  smiled, 
took  the  cup  in  his  trembling  hand,  and  eagerly  swallowed 
the  remaining  drops  in  its  bottom. 

"What !  poison  !"  exclaimed  my  companion.  "Has  the 
villain  escaped  me?  Here  is  my  planet  again;  never  was 
man  so  unlucky.  But  he  is  not  dead  yet." 

He  drew  his  falchion,  and  lifted  it  up  with  the  look  of 
one  about  to  offer  a  solemn  sacrifice.  I  seized  his  arm. 
"He  is  dying,"  said  I;  "he  is  beyond  earthly  vengeance." 
The  wretched  criminal  before  us  was  nearly  insensible  to 
his  brief  preservation.  The  poison,  acting  upon  a  frame 
already  broken  with  public  and  private  anxieties,  was 
making  quick  work;  and  the  glazed  eye,  the  fallen  coun- 
tenance, and  the  collapsed  limb,  showed  that  his  last  hour 
was  come. 

"And  this  is  the  thing,"  soliloquized  the  son  of  El 
Hakim,  "that  men  feared !  In  this  senseless  flesh  was  the 
power  to  make  the  free  tremble  for  their  freedom,  and  the 
slave  curse  the  hour  that  he  was  born.  This  mass  of  mor- 
tality could  stand  between  me  and  happiness — could  make 


SALATBIEL. 

me  a  beggar,  a  wanderer,  miserable,  mad !"  He  caught  up 
the  hand  that  hung  nerveless  from  the  couch.  "Accursed 
hand !"  exclaimed  he,  "what  torrents  of  blood  have  owed 
their  flowing  to  thee !  A  word  written  by  these  ringers 
cost  a  thousand  lives.  And,  0  Heaven !  in  this  cruel  grasp 
was  the  key  of  thy  dungeon,  my  Mary ! — that  dungeon 
of  more  than  the  body,  the  hideous  prison-house  that  ex- 
tinguished thy  mind!"  He  let  fall  the  hand,  and  wept 
bitterly. 

To  my  utter  surprise,  the  procurator  started  upon  his 
feet,  and,  with  the  look  that  had  so  often  made  the  heart 
quake,  haughtily  demanded  who  we  were,  and  how  we  dared 
to  interrupt  his  privacy?  I  felt  as  if  a  spirit  had  started 
up  before  me  from  the  shroud.  But  this  extraordinary  re- 
vival was  merely  the  last  effort  of  a  fierce  mind.  He 
tottered,  and  was  falling,  when  my  companion  darted  for- 
ward, grasped  him  by  the  bosom  with  one  hand,  and  waving 
the  falchion  above  him  with  the  other — "He  hears!  he 
sees!"  exclaimed  he  exultingly.  "Who  are  we?  Who  am 
I?  Look  upon  me,  Gessius  Floras,  before  the  sight  leaves 
your  eyes  forever.  See  Sabat  the  Ishmaelite ! — the  de- 
spised, the  insulted,  the  trampled,  the  undone !  But  never 
did  you  prosper  from  the  hour  of  my  ruin.  I  was  your 
spy,  but  it  was  only  to  bring  you  into  a  snare ;  I  fed  your 
pride,  but  it  was  only  that  it  might  turn  the  hearts  of  all 
men  against  you ;  I  tempted  your  avarice,  only  that  wealth 
might  make  your  nights  sleepless,  and  your  days,  days  of 
fear;  I  roused  your  wrath  into  rage;  I  inflamed  your 
ambition  into  frenzy !  This  night,  I  led  your  conquerors 
upon  you.  But  I  had  made  all  sure.  In  another  week, 
Gessius  Floras,  if  you  had  escaped  this  sword,  you  would 
have  been  seized  by  order  of  the  emperor;  stripped  of 
your  wealth,  your  accursed  power,  and  your  wretched  life. 
The  command  for  your  blood  is  this  night  crossing  the 
Mediterranean !" 

The  dying  man  struggled  to  get  free,  wrenched  himself 
by  a  violent  effort  from  the  strong  grasp  that  at  once  held 
and  sustained  him,  and  fell.  He  was  dead ! 

The  son  of  El  Hakim  stood  gazing  on  the  body  in 
silence;  when  the  glitter  of  a  ring  on  the  hand,  as  it  lay 
spread  upon  the  floor,  struck  his  eye.  He  seized  it  with 
an  outcry:  the  man  was  wholly  changed;  his  frowning 


visage  flashed  with  joy.  I  in  vain  demanded  the  cause. 
He  pressed  the  signet  to  his  lips.  "Farewell,  farewell," 
he  exclaimed. 

"Will  you  not  wait  for  your  share  of  the  spoil,  your 
ample  and  deserved  reward?" 

"Farewell !"  he  repeated,  and  burst  from  the  chamber. 

This  memorable  night  made  changes  in  more  than  the 
Ishmaelite.  Constantius  was,  at  last,  in  his  element.  I 
had  hitherto  seen  him  disguised  by  circumstances:  the 
fugitive  from  his  country,  the  lover  under  the  embarrass- 
ments of  forbidden  passion,  the  ill-starred  soldier.  His 
native  vigor  of  soul  was  under  a  perpetual  cloud.  But  now 
the  cloud  broke  away;  and  the  consciousness  of  having 
nobly  retrieved  his  cheek,  and  the  still  prouder  conscious- 
ness of  the  career  that  this  triumph  laid  open  before  him, 
brought  the  character  of  his  mind  into  full  light.  He  was 
now  the  lofty  enthusiast  that  nature  made  him.  He 
breathed  generous  ambition:  his  step  was  the  step  of  com- 
mand ;  and  when  he  rushed  to  my  embrace  with  almost  the 
eagerness  of  a  boy,  and  with  a  voice  stifled  with  emotion, 
I  saw  in  him  the  romance,  the  soaring  spirit,  and  the  pas- 
sionate love  of  glory  that  moulded  the  Greek  hero. 

He  had  done  his  duty  nobly.  All  were  in  admiration  of 
the  assault.  The  Eomans  had  been  fully  prepared.  He 
scaled  the  rampart,  and  scaled  it  in  their  teeth.  His  men 
followed  gallantly.  He  pressed  on:  the  second  rampart 
was  stormed.  I  had  found  him  at  the  foot  of  the  third, 
checked  by  its  impregnable  mass,  but  defying  the  whole 
garrison  to  drive  him  back.  When  I  afterwards  saw  the 
strength  of  those  bulwarks,  I  felt  that,  with  such  a  leader 
at  the  head  of  the  troops  animated  by  his  spirit,  there  was 
nothing  extravagant  in  the  boldest  hope  of  war. 

This  was  an  eventful  night,  and  there  was  still  much  to 
be  done  before  we  slept.  I  threw  over  my  tattered  gar- 
ments one  of  the  many  mantles  that  lay  loose  round  the 
chamber,  flung  another  on  the  body  of  the  procurator,  and 
sallied  forth  to  give  the  final  orders  of  the  night.  The 
prisoners  had  been  already  secured,  and  I  found  the  great 
hall  of  the  palace  crowded  with  centurions.  The  inter- 
view was  whimsical :  for  a  while  I  escaped  recognition ;  the 
gashed  faces  and  torn  raiment  of  my  hunters,  which  bore 
the  marks  of  our  dreary  march  through  the  subterranean; 


228  SALATHIEL. 

the  rough  heads  and  hands  stained  with  the  fight,  a  start- 
ling contrast  to  the  perfect  equipment  of  the  Koman  under 
all  circumstances,  gave  them  the  look  of  the  robber  tribes. 
My  disguise  was  in  the  contrary  way,  yet  complete.  The 
cloak  was  accidentally  one  of  the  most  showy  in  the  pro- 
curator's wardrobe.  I  found  myself  enveloped  in  furs  and 
tissues ;  and  their  Arab  acquaintance  was  forgotten,  in  what 
seemed  to  them  the  legitimate  monarch  of  the  mountains. 
I  was  received  by  the  circle  of  captives  with  the  decent 
dignity  of  the  brave.  There  was  but  one  exception,  which 
I  might  have  guessed — the  tribune.  He  was  all  humilia- 
tion, stooped  to  make  some  abject  request  about  his  baubles, 
and  was  probably  on  the  point  of  apologizing  for  his  ever 
having  taken  up  the  trade  of  war,  when  I  turned  on  my 
heel,  and  shook  hands  with  my  old  friend  the  captain.  He 
looked  in  evident  perplexity.  At  last,  through  even  the 
grim  evidences  of  the  night's  work  on  my  countenance,  and 
the  problem  of  my  pompous  mantle,  his  brightening  eye 
began  to  recognize  me ;  and  he  burst  out  with,  "The  Arab, 
by  Jupiter!"  But  when  I  asked  him  what  had  become 
of  his  baggage,  I  touched  a  tender  string;  and,  with  a 
countenance  as  grave  as  if  he  had  sustained  an  irreparable 
calamity,  he  told  me  that  his  whole  travelling  cellar  was 
in  the  hands  of  my  men ;  and  it  was  his  full  belief  that  he 
was  at  that  moment  not  worth  a  flask  in  the  wide  world ! 

The  tribune  turned  away  in  conscious  disgrace;  and  I 
sent  him  to  a  dungeon,  to  meditate  till  morn  on  the  awk- 
wardness of  insolence  to  strangers.  With  the  others,  I  sat 
down  to  such  entertainment  as  a  sacked  fortress  could  sup- 
ply ;  but  which  hunger,  thirst,  and  fatigue  rendered  worth 
all  the  banquets  of  the  idle.  The  old  captain  cheered  his 
soul,  and  grew  rhetorical.  "Wine,"  said  he,  flask  in  hand, 
"does  wonders.  It  is  the  true  leveller,  for  it  leaves  no 
troublesome  inequality  of  conditions.  It  is  the  true  sponge 
that  pays  all  debts  at  sight,  for  it  makes  us  forget  the 
existence  of  a  creditor.  It  is  the  true  friend,  that  sticks 
by  a  man  to  the  last  drop ;  the  faithful  mistress,  that  for- 
sakes no  man ;  and  the  most  charming  of  wives,  whose 
tongue  no  husband  hears,  whose  company  is  equally  de- 
lightful at  all  hours,  and  who  is  as  bewitching  to-day  as 
she  was  fifty  years  ago." 

The  panegyric  was  popular.       The     governor's  cellar 


SALATHIEL. 

flowed.  The  Italian  connoisseurship  in  vintages  was  dis- 
played in  the  most  profound  style;  and  long  before  we 
parted,  the  great  "sponge"  which  wipes  away  debt,  had 
wiped  away  every  recollection  of  defeat.  The  idea  of  their 
being  prisoners  never  clouded  a  sunbeam  that  came  from 
the  bottle.  The  letters  scattered  from  the  tribune's  saddle 
were  an  unfailing  topic.  The  legion  had  picked  them  up 
on  the  march;  they  had  the  piquancy  of  the  scandal  of 
particular  friends;  and  the  addition  made  to  their  intelli- 
gence by  my  wild  associate  was  unanimously  declared  the 
most  dexterous  piece  of  frolic,  the  most  pleasant  venom, 
and  the  most  venomous  pleasantry,  that  ever  emanated  from 
the  wit  of  man. 

My  task  was  not  yet  done.  I  left  those  gay  soldiers  to 
their  wine,  and  with  Constantius  and  some  torchbearers 
hastened  to  the  Armory  of  Herod — the  forbidden  ground; 
the  treasure-house  of  war;  and,  if  old  rumor  were  to  be 
believed,  the  place  of  many  a  mysterious  celebration  un- 
lawful to  be  seen  by  human  eyes. 

The  building  was  in  the  centre  of  the  citadel,  and  was  of 
the  stateliest  architecture.  The  massive  doors  were  now 
thrown  open.  At  the  first  step,  I  shrank  from  the  blaze  of 
steel  and  gold  that  shot  back  against  the  torches.  The 
walls  of  this  gigantic  hall  were  covered  with  arms  and  ar- 
mor of  every  nation — cuirasses,  Persian,  Koman  and  Greek ; 
the  plate  mail  of  the  Gaul;  the  Indian  chain-armor;  in-: 
numerable  head-pieces,  from  the  steel  cap  of  the  Scythian 
to  the  plumed  and  triple-crested  helmet  of  the  Greek,  that 
richest  combination  of  strength  and  beauty  ever  borne  by 
soldiership;  shields  of  every  shape  and  sculpture;  the 
Greek  orb;  the  Persian  rhomb;  the  Cimmerian  crescent — 
all  arms,  the  ponderous  spear  of  the  phalanx ;  the  Thracian 
pike;  the  German  war-hatchet;  the  Indian  javelin;  the 
bow,  from  the  Nubian,  twice  the  height  of  man,  to  the  small 
half-circle  of  the  Assyrian  cavalry;  swords,  the  broad- 
bladed  and  fearful  falchion  of  the  Koman,  every  thrust 
of  which  let  out  a  life ;  the  huge  two-handed  sword  of  the 
Baltic  tribes;  the  Syrian  scimitar;  the  Persian  acinaces; 
the  deep-hilted  knife  of  the  Indian  islander;  the  Arab 
poniard ;  the  serrated  blade  of  the  African ;  all  were  there, 
in  their  richest  models — the  collection  of  Herod's  life. 
War  had  raised  him  to  a  rank  which  allowed  the  indulgence 


230  SAL  AT  HI  EL. 

of  his  most  lavish  tastes  of  good  and  ill ;  the  sword  was  his 
true  sceptre ;  and  never  king  bore  the  sign  of  his  sovereignty 
more  royally  emblazoned. 

After  long  admiration  of  this  display  of  the  wealth  dear- 
est to  the  soldier,  I  was  retiring,  when  a  slave  approached, 
and  prostrating  himself,  told  me  that  a  hall  remained,  still 
more  singular,  "the  hall  in  which  the  Great  Herod  received 
his  death-warning."  I  gazed  round  the  armory ;  there  was 
no  door,  but  the  one  by  which  we  had  entered 

"Not  here,"  said  the  Ethiopian,  "yet  it  is  beside  us. 
The  foot  of  a  Roman  has  never  entered  it.  The  secret  re- 
mains with  me  alone.  Does  my  lord  command  that  it 
shall  be  revealed?" 

The  order  was  given.  The  slave  took  down  one  of  the 
coats  of  mail,  pushed  back  a  valve,  and  we  entered  a  wind- 
ing stair  which  led  us  downwards  for  some  minutes.  The 
narrow  passage  and  heavy  air  reminded  me  of  the  subter- 
ranean. Our  torches  burned  dimly,  and  the  visages  of  my 
attendants  showed  how  little  their  gallantry  was  to  be  relied 
on,  if  we  were  to  be  brought  into  contact  with  magic  and 
ghosts. 

"Here,"  said  the  Ethiopian,  "it  was  the  custom  of  the 
great  king,  in  his  declining  years,  when  his  heart  was 
broken  by  the  loss  of  the  most  beloved  of  wives,  and  mad- 
dened by  the  conspiracies  of  the  princes  his  sons,  to  come, 
and  consult  others  than  the  God  of  Jerusalem.  Here  the 
Chaldee  men  of  wisdom  came,  to  summon  the  spirits  of 
the  departed,  and  show  the  fates  of  kingdoms.  We  are 
now  in  the  bowels  of  the  mountain." 

He  loosed  a  chain,  which  disappeared  into  the  ground 
with  a  hollow  noise.  A  huge  mass  of  rock  slowly  rolled 
back,  and  showed  a  depth  of  darkness  through  which  our 
twinkling  torches  scarcely  made  way. 

"Stop,"  said  the  slave,  "I  should  have  first  lighted  the 
shrine."  He  left  us,  and  we  shortly  saw  a  blaze  of  many 
colors  on  a  tripod  in  the  centre.  As  the  blaze  strengthened, 
a  scene  of  wonder  awoke  before  the  eye.  A  host  of  armed 
statues  grew  upon  the  darkness.  The  immense  vault  was 
peopled  with  groups  of  warriors,  all  the  great  military 
leaders  of  the  world,  in  their  native  arms,  and  surrounded 
by  a  cluster  of  their  captains;  the  disturbers  of  the  earth, 
from  Sesostris  down  to  Cassar  and  Antony,  brandishing  the 


8ALATBIEL.  231 

lance,  or  reining  the  charger,  each  in  his  known  attitude 
of  command.  There  rushed  Cyrus  in  the  scythed  chariot, 
surrounded  by  his  horsemen,  barbed  from  head  to  heel. 
There  Alexander,  with  the  banner  of  Macedon  waving  above 
his  head,  and  armed  as  when  he  leaped  into  the  Granicus. 
There  Hannibal,  upon  the  elephant  that  he  rode  at  Canna?. 
There  Caesar,  with  the  head  of  Pompey  at  his  feet.  Those, 
and  a  long  succession  of  the  masters  of  victory,  each  in  the 
moment  of  supreme  fortune,  made  the  vault  a  representa- 
tive palace  of  human  glory.  But  the  view  from  the  en- 
trance told  but  half  the  tale.  It  was  when  I  advanced  and 
lifted  the  torch  to  the  countenance  of  the  first  group,  that 
the  moral  was  visible.  All  the  visages  were  those  of  skele- 
tons. The  costly  armor  was  hung  upon  bones.  The  spears 
and  sceptres  were  brandished  by  the  thin  fingers  of  the 
grave.  The  vault  was  the  representative  sepulchre  of  hu- 
man vanity.  This  was  one  of  the  fantastic  fits  of  a  mind 
which  felt  too  late  the  emptiness  of  earthly  honors.  Half 
pagan,  the  powerful  intellect  of  the  man  gave  way  to  the 
sullen  superstitions  of  the  murderer.  Egypt  was  still  the 
mystic  tyrant  of  Palestine ;  and  Herod,  in  his  despair,  sank 
into  the  slave  of  a  credulity  at  once  weak  and  terrible. 

In  the  last  hour  of  a  long  and  deeply  varied  life,  ex- 
hausted more  by  misery  of  soul  than  disease,  when  medi- 
cine was  hopeless,  and  he  had  returned  from  trying  the 
famous  springs  of  Callirhoe  in  vain,  the  king  ordered  him- 
self to  be  brought  into  this  vault,  and  left  alone.  He 
remained  in  it  during  some  hours.  The  attendants  were 
at  length  roused  by  hideous  wailing;  they  broke  open  the 
entrance,  and  found  him  in  a  paroxysm  of  terror.  The 
vault  was  filled  with  the  strong  odors  of  some  magical 
preparations,  still  burning  on  the  tripod.  The  sound  of 
departing  feet  was  heard,  but  Herod  sat  alone.  In  accents 
of  the  wildest  woe  he  declared  that  he  had  seen  the  statues 
filled  with  sudden  life,  and  charging  him  with  the  death  of 
his  wife  and  children. 

He  left  Masada  instantly,  pronouncing  a  curse  upon  the 
hour  in  which  he  first  listened  to  the  arts  of  Egypt.  He 
was  carried  to  Jericho,  and  there  laid  on  a  bed,  from  which 
he  never  rose.  Alternate  bursts  of  blasphemy  and  remorse 
made  his  parting  moments  frightful.  But,  tyranny  was  in 
his  last  thought ;  and  he  died,  holding  in  his  hand  an  order 
for  the  massacre  of  every  leading  man  in  Judea. 


232  SALATHIEL. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  first  decided  blow  of  the  war  was  given.  I  had  in- 
curred the  full  wrath  of  Rome ;  the  trench  between  me  and 
forgiveness  was  impassable;  and  I  felt  a  stern  delight  in 
the  conviction  that  hope  of  truce  or  pardon  was  at  an  end : 
the  seizure  of  Masada  was  a  defiance  of  the  whole  power  of 
the  empire.  But  it  had  the  higher  importance  of  a  tri- 
umph at  the  beginning  of  a  war,  the  moment  when  even 
the  courageous  are  perplexed  by  doubt,  and  the  timid  watch 
their  opportunity  to  raise  the  cry  of  ill  fortune.  It  showed 
the  facility  of  conquest,  where  men  are  determined  to  run 
the  full  risk  of  good  or  evil ;  it  shook  the  military  credit  of 
the  enemy,  by  the  proof  that  they  could  be  overmatched 
in  activity,  spirit,  and  conduct.  The  capture  of  a  Roman 
fortress  by  assault  was  a  thing  almost  unheard  of.  But 
the  consummate  value  of  the  enterprise  was,  in  its  declara- 
tion to  those  who  would  fight;  that  they  had  leaders,  able 
and  willing  to  take  the  last  chance  with  them  for  the  free- 
dom of  their  country. 

When  day  broke,  and  the  strength  of  this  celebrated 
fortress  was  fairly  visible,  I  could  scarcely  believe  that  our 
success  was  altogether  the  work  of  man.  The  genius  of 
ancient  fortification  produced  nothing  more  remarkable 
than  Masada.  It  stood  on  the  summit  of  a  height  so  steep 
that  the  sun  never  reached  the  bottom  of  the  surrounding 
defiles.  Its  outer  wall  was  a  mile  round,  with  thirty-eight 
towers,  each  eighty  feet  high.  Immense  marble  cisterns; 
granaries  like  palaces,  capable  of  holding  provisions  for 
years;  exhaustless  arms  and  military  engines,  in  buildings 
of  the  finest  Greek  art;  and  defences  of  the  most  costly 
skill,  at  every  commanding  point  of  the  interior ;  all  showed 
the  kingly  magnificence  and  warlike  care  of  the  most  bril- 
liant, daring,  and  successful  monarch  of  Judea,  since  Solo- 
mon. 

By  the  first  dawn,  a  new  wonder  struck  the  population, 
whom  the  tumult  of  the  night  had  gathered  on  the  neigh- 
boring hills.  I  ordered  the  great  standard  of  Naphtali  to 
be  hoisted  on  the  citadel.  It  was  raised  in  the  midst  of 
shouts  and  hymns;  and  the  huge  scarlet  folds  spread  out, 
majestically  displaying  the  emblem  of  our  tribe,  the  Silver 
Stag,  before  the  morn.  Shouts  echoed  and  re-echoed  round 


8ALATHIEL.  233 

the  horizon.  The  hill  tops,  covered  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  did  homage  to  the  banner  of  Jewish  deliverance; 
and,  inspired  by  the  sight,  every  man  of  their  thousands 
took  sword  and  spear,  and  made  ready  for  war. 

My  first  care  was,  to  relieve  the  anxieties  of  my  family; 
and  Constantius,  with  triumph  in  every  feature,  and  love 
and  honor  glowing  in  his  heart,  was  made  the  bearer  of  the 
glad  tidings.  The  duties  of  command  now  devolved  rapidly 
on  me.  An  army  to  be  raised — a  plan  of  operations  to  bo 
determined  on — the  chieftains  of  the  country  to  be  com- 
bined— and  the  profligate  feuds  of  Jerusalem  to  be  extin- 
guished, were  the  difficulties  that  lay  before  my  first  step. 
It  is  in  preliminaries  like  those  that  the  burning  spirit  of 
a  man,  full  of  the  manliest  resolutions,  and  caring  no  more 
for  personal  safety  than  he  cares  for  the  weed  under  his 
feet,  is  fated  to  feel  the  true  troubles  of  enterprise. 

I  soon  experienced  the  disgust  of  having  to  contend  with 
the  indolent,  the  artful,  and  the  base.  My  mind,  eager  to 
follow  up  the  first  success,  was  entangled  in  tedious  and 
intricate  negotiation  with  men  whom  no  sense  of  right  or 
wrong  could  stimulate  to  integrity.  Eival  interests  to  be 
conciliated — gross  corruptions  to  be  crushed — paltry  pas- 
sions to  be  stigmatized — family  hatreds  to  be  reconciled — 
childish  antipathies,  grasping  avarice,  giddy  ambition,  sav- 
age cruelty,  to  be  rectified,  propitiated,  or  punished;  were 
among  my  tasks,  before  I  could  plant  a  foot  in  the  field. 
If  those  are  the  fruits  that  grow  round  even  the  righteous 
cause,  what  must  be  the  rank  crop  of  conspiracy ! 

But  one  point  I  speedily  settled.  The  first  assemblage 
of  the  chieftains  satisfied  me  of  the  absurdity  of  councils  of 
war.  Every  man  had  his  plan;  and  every  plan  had  some 
personal  object  in  view.  I  saw  that  to  discuss  them  would 
be  useless  and  endless.  I  had  already  begun  to  learn  the 
diplomatic  art  of  taking  my  own  way,  with  the  most  un- 
ruffled aspect.  I  desired  the  proposers  to  reduce  their 
views  to  writing;  received  their  memorials  with  perfect 
civility;  took  them  to  my  cabinet,  and  gave  their  brilliancy 
to  add  to  the  blaze  of  my  fire.  High  station  is  soon  com- 
pelled to  dissemble.  A  month  before  I  should  have  spoken 
out  my  mind,  and  treated  the  plans  and  the  proposers  alike 
with  scorn.  But  a  month  before,  I  was  neither  general  nor 
statesman.  Freed  now  from  the  encumbrance  of  many 


234  8ALATHIEL. 

councillors,  I  decided  on  a  rapid  march  to  Jerusalem — 
there  was  power  and  glory  in  the  word.  By  this  measure 
I  should  be  master  of  all  that  final  victory  could  give,  the 
popular  mind,  the  national  resources,  and  the  highest  prize 
of  the  most  successful  war. 

Those  thoughts  banished  rest  from  my  pillow.  I  passed 
day  and  night  in  a  perpetual,  feverish  exaltation  of  mind ; 
yet  if  I  were  to  compute  my  few  periods  of  happiness, 
among  them  would  be  the  week  when  I  could  neither  eat, 
drink  nor  sleep,  from  the  mere  overflowing  of  my  warlike 
reveries  at  Masada.  We  may  well  forgive  the  splenetic 
apathy  and  sullen  scorn  of  life  that  beset  the  holder  of 
power,  when  time  or  chance  leaves  his  grasp  empty.  The 
mighty  monarch;  the  general,  on  whose  sword  hung  the 
balance  of  empires;  the  statesman,  on  whose  council  rose 
or  fell  the  welfare  of  millions,  sunk  into  the  unexciting 
employments  of  common  life,  their  genius  and  their  fame 
a  burden  and  a  reproach,  the  source  of  a  restless  and  indig- 
nant contrast  between  what  they  were  and  what  they  are ; 
how  feeble  an  emblem  of  such  minds  is  the  lion  fanged,  or 
the  eagle  chained !  We  may  pass  by  even  the  frivolities 
which  so  often  make  the  world  stare  at  the  latter  years  of 
famous  men.  When  they  can  no  longer  soar  to  their 
natural  height,  all  beneath  is  equal  to  them ;  our  petty  wis- 
dom is  not  worth  their  trouble.  They  scorn  the  little 
opinions  of  commonplace  mankind,  and  follow  their  own 
tastes — contemptuously  trifle,  and  proudly  play  the  fool. 

Before  the  week  was  done,  I  was  at  the  head  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men ;  I  was  the  champion  of  a  great  country ; 
the  leader  of  the  most  formidable  insurrection  that  ever 
contended  with  Eome  in  the  east,  the  general  of  an  army 
whose  fidelity  and  spirit  were  not  to  be  surpassed  on  earth. 
Could  ambition  ask  more?  Yet  there  was  even  more, 
though  too  solemn  to  be  asked  by  human  ambition.  My 
nation  was  sacred ;  a  cause  above  human  nature  was  to  be 
defended ;  in  that  cause  I  might  at  once  redeem  my  own 
name  from  obscurity,  and  be  the  instrument  of  exalting 
the  name,  authority  and  religion  of  a  people,  the  regal  peo- 
ple of  the  Sovereign  of  all ! 

Constantius  returned.  It  was  in  vain  that  I  had  directed 
my  family  to  take  refuge  in  the  mountain  country  of 
Naphtali.  My  authority  was  for  once  disputed  at  horce. 


SALATHIEL.  235 

Strong  affection  mastered  fear,  and  swift  as  love  could 
speed,  I  saw  them  enter  the  gates  of  Masada. 

Such  meetings  can  come  but  once  in  a  life.  I  was  sur- 
rounded by  innocent  fondness,  beauty  most  admirable,  and 
faith  that  no  misfortune  could  shake ;  and  I  was  surrounded 
by  them,  in  an  hour  when  prosperity  seemed  laboring  to 
lavish  on  me  all  the  wishes  of  man.  I  felt,  too,  by  the 
glance  with  which  Miriam  looked  upon  her  "hero,"  that  I 
had  earned  a  higher  title  to  the  world's  respect.  Had  she 
found  me  in  chains,  she  would  have  shared  them  without  a 
murmur.  But  her  lofty  heart  rejoiced  to  find  her  husband 
thus  vindicating  his  claims  to  the  homage  of  mankind. 

Yet  to  those  matchless  enjoyments  I  gave  up  but  one 
day.  By  the  next  dawn,  the  trumpet  sounded  for  the 
march.  I  knew  the  importance  of  following  up  the  first 
blow  in  all  wars;  its  matchless  importance  in  a  war  of  in- 
surrection. To  meet  the  disciplined  troops  of  Rome  in 
pitched  battles,  would  be  madness.  The  true  manoeuvre 
was  to  distract  their  attention  by  variety  of  onset,  cut  off 
their  communications,  keep  their  camps  in  perpetual  alarm, 
and  make  our  activity,  numbers,  and  knowledge  of  the 
country,  the  substitutes  for  equipment,  experience,  and  the 
science  of  the  soldier. 

In  summoning  those  brave  men,  I  renewed  the  regula- 
tions of  the  Mosaic  law — a  law  whose  regard  for  natural 
feelings  distinguished  it  in  the  most  striking  manner  from 
the  stern  violences  of  the  pagan  levy.  No  man  was  required 
to  take  up  arms,  who  had  built  a  house  and  had  not  yet 
dedicated  it;  no  man  who  had  planted  a  vineyard  or  olive 
ground,  and  had  not  yet  reaped  the  produce;  no  man  who 
had  bethrofched  a  wife,  and  had  not  yet  taken  her  home; 
and,  no  man  during  the  first  year  of  his  marriage. 

My  prisoners  were  my  last  embarrassment.  To  leave 
them  to  the  chance  of  popular  mercy,  or  to  leave  them  im- 
mured in  the  fortress,  would  be  cruelty.  To  let  them  loose 
would  be,  of  course,  to  give  so  many  soldiers  to  the  enemy. 
I  adopted  the  simpler  expedient,  of  marching  them  to 
Berytus,  seizing  a  squadron  of  the  Roman  provision  ships, 
and  embarking  the  whole  for  Italy.  To  my  old  friend  the 
captain,  whose  cheerfulness  could  be  abated  only  by  a 
failure  of  the  vintage,  I  offered  a  tranquil  settlement 
among  our  hills.  The  etiquette  of  soldiership  was  formid- 


236  8ALATHIEL. 

ably  tasked  by  my  offer,  for  the  veteran  was  thoroughly 
weary  of  his  thankless  service.  He  hesitated,  swore  that  I 
deserved  to  be  a  Koman,  and  even  a  captain  of  horse;  but 
finished  by  saying  that,  bad  a  trade  as  the  army  was,  he 
was  too  old  to  learn  a  better.  I  gave  him  and  some  others 
their  unconditional  liberty ;  and  he  parted  from  the  Jewish 
rebel  with  more  obvious  regret  than  perhaps  he  ever 
dreamed  himself  capable  of  feeling  for  anything,  but  his 
horse  and  his  Falernian. 

Eleazar  took  the  charge  of  my  family,  and  the  command 
of  Masada.  The  sun  burst  out  with  cheerful  omen  on  the 
troops,  as  I  wound  down  the  steep  road,  named  the  Ser- 
pent, from  its  extreme  obliquity.  The  sight  before  me  was 
of  a  nature  to  exhilarate  the  heaviest  heart;  an  immense 
host  making  the  air  ring  with  acclamations  at  the  coming 
of  their  chieftain.  The  mental  perspective  of  public  honors 
and  the  national  service  was  still  more  exalting.  Yet  I 
felt  a  boding  depression,  as  if  within  those  walls  had  begun 
and  ended  my  prosperity! 

On  the  first  ridge,  which  crossed  our  march,  I  instinc- 
tively stopped  to  give  a  farewell  look.  The  breeze  had 
sunk,  and  the  scarlet  banner  shook  out  its  folds  to  the  sun 
no  more ;  a  cloud  hung  on  the  mountain  peak,  and  covered 
the  fortress  with  gloom.  I  turned  away.  The  omen  was 
true! 

But  sickly  thoughts  were  forgotten,  when  we  were  once 
fairly  on  the  march.  Who  that  has  ever  moved  with  an 
army,  has  not  known  its  ready  cure  for  heaviness  of  heart  ? 
The  sound  of  the  moving  multitude,  their  broad  mirth,  the 
mere  trampling  of  their  feet,  the  picturesque  lights  that 
fall  upon  the  columns  as  they  pass  over  the  inequalities  of 
the  ground,  keep  the  eye  and  the  mind  singularly  alive. 

Our  men  felt  the  whole  delight  of  the  scene,  and  gam- 
bolled like  deer  or  horses  let  loose  into  pasture.  But  to 
the  military  habits  of  Constantius,  this  rude  vigor  was 
the  highest  vexation.  He  galloped  from  flank  to  flank  with 
hopeless  diligence,  found  that  his  arrangements  only  per- 
plexed our  bold  peasantry  the  more,  and  at  length  fairly 
relinquished  the  idea  of  gaining  any  degree  of  credit  by 
the  brilliancy  of  their  discipline.  But  I,  no  more  a  tacti- 
cian than  themselves,  was  content  with  seeing  in  them  the 
material  of  the  true  soldier.  The  spear  was  carried  rudely, 


SALATHIEL.  237 

but  the  hand  that  carried  it  was  strong;  the  march  was 
irregular,  but  the  step  was  firm;  if  there  was  song,  and 
mirth  and  clamor,  they  were  the  cheerful  voices  of  the 
brave ;  and  I  could  read  in  the  countenances  of  ranks  which 
no  skill  could  keep  in  order,  the  generous  devotedness  that, 
in  wars  like  ours,  have  so  often  baffled  the  proud,  and  left 
of  the  mighty  but  clay. 

During  the  day  we  saw  no  enemy,  and  swept  along  with 
the  unembarrassed  step  of  men  going  up  to  one  of  our 
festivals.  The  march  was  hot;  the  zeal  of  our  young 
soldiers  made  it  rapid;  and  we  continued  it  long  after  the 
usual  hour  of  repose.  But  then  sleep  took  its  thorough 
revenge.  It  was  fortunate  for  our  fame  that  the  enemy 
were  not  nigh;  for  sleep  fastened  irresistibly  and  at  once 
upon  the  whole  multitude.  Sentinels  were  planted  in  vain, 
the  spears  fell  from  their  hands,  and  the  watchers  were 
tranquilly  laid  side  by  side  with  the  slumbering.  Out- 
posts, and  the  usual  precautionary  arrangements,  were 
equally  useless.  Sleep  was  our  master.  Constantius  ex- 
erted his  vigilance  with  fruitless  activitv;  and  before  an 
hour  passed,  he  and  I  were  probably  the  sole  sentinels  of 
the  grand  army  of  Judea. 

"What  can  be  done  with  such  sluggards?"  said  he, 
indignantly  pointing  to  the  heaps  that,  wrapped  in  their 
cloaks,  covered  the  fields  far  round,  and  in  the  moonlight 
looked  more  like  surges  tipped  with  foam,  than  human 
beings. 

"What  can  be  done? — wonders." 

"Will  they  ever  be  able  to  manoeuvre  in  the  face  of  the 
legions  ?" 

"Never/' 

"Will  they  ever  be  able  to  move  like  regular  troops  ?" 

"Never." " 

"Will  they  ever  be  able  to  keep  their  eyes  open  after 
sunset  ?" 

"Never,  after  such  a  march  as  we  have  given  them  to- 
day." 

"What,  then,  under  heaven,  will  they  be  good  for  ?" 

"To  beat  the  Romans  out  of  Palestine !" 


£38  SALATHIEL. 

CHAPTER  XXXIL 

BEFORE  the  sun  was  up  my  peasants  were  on  the  march 
again.  From  the  annual  journeys  of  the  tribes  to  the  great 
city,  no  country  was  ever  known  so  well  to  its  whole  popu- 
lation as  Palestine.  Every  hill,  forest  and  mountain 
stream  was  now  saluted  with  a  shout  of  old  recognition. 
Discipline  was  forgotten  as  we  approached  those  spots  of 
memory,  and  the  troops  rambled  loosely  over  the  ground 
on  which  in  gentler  times  they  had  rested  in  the  midst 
of  their  caravans.  Constantius  had  many  an  irritation  to 
encounter,  but  I  combated  his  wrath,  and  pledged  myself 
that  when  the  occasion  arrived  my  countrymen  would  show 
the  native  vigor  of  the  soil. 

"Let  my  peasants  take  their  way,"  said  I.  "If  they 
will  not  make  an  army,  let  them  make  a  mob;  let  them 
come  into  the  field  with  the  bold  propensities  of  their 
nature  unchecked  by  the  trammels  of  regular  warfare ;  let 
them  feel  themselves  men  and  not  machines,  and  I  pledge 
myself  for  their  victory." 

"They  will  soon  have  the  opportunity:  look  yonder." 
He  pointed  to  a  low  range  of  misty  hills  some  miles  on- 
ward. 

"Are  we  to  fight  the  clouds  ?  for  I  can  see  nothing  else." 

"Our  troops,  I  think,  would  be  exactly  the  proper  antago- 
nists. But  there  is  one  cloud  upon  those  hills  that 
something  more  than  the  wind  must  drive  away." 

The  sun  threw  a  passing  gleam  upon  the  heights,  and  it 
was  returned  by  the  sparkling  of  spears.  The  enemy  were 
before  us.  Constantius  galloped  with  some  of  our  hunters 
to  the  front,  to  observe  their  position.  The  trumpets 
sounded,  and  my  countrymen  justified  all  that  I  had  said, 
by  the  enthusiasm  that  lighted  up  every  countenance  at  the 
hope  of  coming  into  contact  with  the  oppressor. 

We  advanced;  shouts  rang  from  tribe  to  tribe;  we 
quickened  our  pace;  at  length  the  whole  multitude  ran. 
At  the  foot  of  the  height  every  man  pushed  forward  without 
waiting  for  his  fellow;  it  was  a  complete  confusion.  The 
chief  force  against  us  was  cavalry,  and  I  saw  them  pre- 
paring to  charge.  We  must  suffer  prodigiously,  let  the  day 
end  how  it  would.  The  whole  campaign  might  hang  on 
the  first  repulse.  I  stood  in  agony.  I  saw  the  squadrons 


SALATBIEL.  £39 

level  their  lances.  I  saw  the  centurions  dash  out  in  front. 
All  was  ready  for  the  fatal  charge.  To  my  astonishment, 
the  whole  of  the  cavalry  wheeled  round,  and  disappeared. 

The  panic  was  like  miracle — equally  rapid  and  unac- 
countable. I  rode  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  discovered  the 
secret.  Constantius,  observing  the  enemy's  attention  taken 
up  with  my  advance,  had  made  his  way  round  the  heights. 
ilis  trumpet  gave  the  first  notice  of  the  manoeuvre.  Their 
rear  was  threatened,  and  the  cavalry  fled,  leaving  a  cohort 
in  our  hands. 

Never  was  successful  soldier  honored  wit'i  a  more  clam- 
orous triumph  than  Constantius.  Nature  speaks  out  among 
her  untutored  sons.  Envy  has  nothing  to  do  in  such  fields 
as  ours.  He  was  applauded  to  the  skies. 

"Well,"  said  I,  as  I  pressed  the  gallant  hand  that  had 
planted  the  first  laurel  on  our  brqws,  "you  see  that,  if 
ploughmen  and  shepherds  make  rude  soldiers,  they  make 
capital  judges  of  soldiership.  You  might  have  conquered 
a  kingdom  without  receiving  half  this  panegyric  in  Rome." 

"The  service  is  but  begun,  and  we  shall  have  another 
lesson  to  get  or  give  to-morrow.  Those  fellows  are  grateful, 
I  allow,"  said  he,  with  a  smile;  "but  you  must  allow  that 
for  what  has  been  done,  we  have  to  thank  the  discipline 
that  brought  us  into  the  Roman  rear." 

"Yes,  and  the  discipline  that  made  them  so  much 
alarmed  about  their  rear,  as  to  run  away,  when  they  might 
have  charged  and  beaten  us." 

This  little  affair  put  us  all  in  spirits,  and  the  songs  and 
cheerful  clamors  burst  out  with  renewed  animation.  But 
the  symptoms  of  the  enemy  soon  became  thicker.  We 
found  the  ruined  cottage,  the  torn-up  garden,  the  burnt 
orchard;  those  habitual  evidences  of  the  camp.  As  we 
advanced,  the  tracks  of  waggons  and  of  huge  wheels  of 
the  military  engines  were  fresh  in  the  grass,  and  from  time 
to  time  some  skeleton  of  a  beast  of  burden,  or  some  half- 
covered  wreck  of  man,  showed  that  desolation  had  walked 
there;  the  cavalry  soon  showed  themselves  on  the  heights 
in  larger  bodies ;  but  all  was  forgotten  in  the  sight  that  at 
length  rose  upon  the  horizon — we  beheld,  bathed  in  the 
richest  glow  of  a  summer's  eve,  the  summits  of  the  moun- 
tains round  Jerusalem,  and  glorious  above  them,  like  an- 
other sun,  the  golden  beauty  of  the  Temple  of  temples! 


240  KALATHIEL. 

What  Jew  ever  saw  that  sight,  but  with  homage  of 
heart  ?  Fine  fancies  may  declaim  of  the  rapture  of  return- 
ing to  one's  country,  after  long  years.  Kapture !  to  find 
ourselves  in  a  land  of  strangers,  ourselves  forgotten,  our 
early  scenes  so  changed  that  we  can  scarcely  retrace  them, 
filled  up  with  new  faces,  or  with  the  old  so  worn  by  time 
and  care  that  we  read  in  them  nothing  but  the  emptiness 
of  human  hope;  the  whole  world  new,  frivolous  and  con- 
temptuous of  our  feelings.  Where  is  the  mother,  the  sister, 
the  woman  of  our  heart?  We  find  their  only  memorials 
among  the  dead,  and  bitterly  feel  that  our  true  country  is 
the  tomb !  But  the  return  to  Zion  was  not  of  the  things  of 
this  world.  The  Jew  saw  before  him  the  city  of  prophecy 
and  power.  Mortal  thoughts,  individual  sorrows,  the  mel- 
ancholy experiences  of  human  life,  had  no  nlace  among 
the  mighty  hopes  that  gathered  over  it,  like  angel's  wings. 
Eestoration,  boundless  empire,  imperishable  glory,  were 
the  writing  upon  its  bulwarks.  It  stood  before  him  the 
Universal  City,  whose  gates  were  to  be  open  for  the  rev- 
erence of  all  time ;  the  symbol  to  the  earth  of  the  returning 
presence  of  the  Great  King ;  the  promise  to  the  Jew  of  an 
empire,  triumphant  over  the  casualties  of  nations,  the 
crimes  of  man,  and  even  the  all-grasping  avarice  of  the 
grave. 

The  multitude  prostrated  themselves ;  then  rising,  broke 
forth  into  the  glorious  hymn  sung  by  the  tribes  on  their 
journeys  to  the  Temple : — 

"Great  is  the  Lord,  and  greatly  to  be  praised,  in  the 
city  of  our  God,  the  mountain  of  his  holiness. 

"Beautiful,  the  joy  of  the  earth  is  Mount  Zion,  the  city 
of  the  Great  King! 

"God  is  known  in  her  palaces  for  a  refuge. 

"We  have  thought  of  thy  loving-kindness,  0  God,  in  the 
midst  of  thy  temple. 

"Walk  about  Zion,  tell  the  towers  thereof.  Mark  ye  her 
bulwarks,  consider  her  palaces.  For  her  God  is  our  God, 
forever  and  ever ;  he  will  be  our  guide  in  death ;  his 
praise  is  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Glory  to  the  king  of 
Zion." 

The  harmony  of  the  adoring  myriads  rose  sweet  and 
solemn  upon  the  air ;  the  sky  was  a  canopy  of  sapphire ;  the 
breeze  rich  with  the  evening  flowers ;  Jerusalem  before  me ! 


8ALATHIEL. 

I  felt  as  if  the  covering  of  my  mortal  nature  were  about 
to  be  cast  away,  and  my  spirit  to  go  forth,  on  a  bright  and 
boundless  career  of  fortune. 

But  recollections  never  to  be  subdued  saddened  my  mem- 
ory of  the  Temple ;  and  when  the  first  influence  of  the  hom- 
age passed,  I  turned  from  the  sight  of  what  was  to  me 
the  eternal  monument  of  the  heaviest  crime  of  man.  I  gave 
one  parting  glance,  as  day  died  upon  the  spires.  To  my 
surprise,  they  were  darkened  by  more  than  twilight;  I 
glanced  again,  smoke  rolled  cloud  on  cloud  over  Mount 
Moriah;  the  distant  roar  of  battle  startled  us.  "Had  the 
enemy  anticipated  our  march,  and  was  Jerusalem  about  to 
be  stormed  before  our  eyes  ?" 

We  were  not  left  long  to  conjecture.  Crowds  of  fright- 
ened women  and  children  were  seen  flying  across  the 
country.  The  roar  swelled  again ;  we  answered  it  by  shouts 
and  rushed  onward.  Unable  to  ascertain  the  point  of  at- 
tack, I  halted  the  multitude  at  the  entrance  of  one  of  the 
roads  ascending  to  the  great  gate  of  the  upper  city,  and 
galloped  forward  with  a  few  of  my  people. 

A  horseman  rushed  from  the  gate  with  a  heedless  rapid- 
ity which  must  have  flung  him  into  the  midst  of  our  ranks, 
or  sent  him  over  the  precipice.  His  voice  alone  enabled 
me  to  recognize  in  this  furious  rider  my  kinsman  Jubal. 
But  never  had  a  few  months  so  altered  a  human  being. 
Instead  of  the  bold  and  martial  figure  of  the  chieftain,  I 
saw  an  emaciated  and  exhausted  man,  apparently  in  the 
last  stage  of  life  or  sorrow:  the  florid  cheek  was  of  the  color 
of  clay ;  the  flashing  glance  was  sunken ;  the  loud  and  cheer- 
ful voice  was  sepulchral.  I  welcomed  him  with  the  natural 
regard  of  our  relationship :  but  his  perturbation  was  fearful ; 
he  trembled,  grew  fiery  red,  and  could  return  my  greet- 
ing only  with  a  feeble  tongue  and  a  wild  eye. 

But,  this  was  no  time  for  private  feelings.  I  inquired 
the  state  of  things  in  Jerusalem.  Here  his  embarrass- 
ment was  thrown  aside,  and  the  natural  energy  of  the  man 
found  room.  "Jerusalem  has  three  curses  at  this  hour," 
said  he,  fiercely,  "the  priests,  the  people,  and  the  Eomans ; 
and  the  last  is  the  lightest  of  the  three :  the  priests  bloated 
with  indulgence,  and  mad  with  love  of  the  world ;  the  peo- 
ple pampered  with  faction,  and  mad  with  bigotry ;  and  the 
Romans  availing  themselves  of  the  madness  of  each  to 
crush  all," 


242  8ALATBIEL. 

"But  has  the  assault  been  actually  made?  or  is  there 
force  enough  within  to  repel  it  ?"  interrupted  I. 

"The  assault  has  been  made,  and  the  enemy  have  driven 
everything  before  them,  so  far  as  has  been  their  pleasure. 
Why  they  have  not  pushed  on,  is  inconceivable;  for  our 
regular  troops  are  good  for  nothing.  I  have  now  been 
sent  out  to  raise  the  villages;  but  my  labor  will  be  useless 
for,  see,  the  eagles  are  already  on  the  wall." 

I  looked;  on  the  northern  quarter  of  the  battlements  I 
saw,  through  smoke  and  flame,  the  accursed  standard. 
Below,  rose  immense  bursts  of  conflagration ;  the  whole  of 
the  new  city,  the  Bezetha,  was  on  fire.  My  plan  was  in- 
stantly formed.  I  divided  my  force  into  two  bodies;  gave 
one  to  Constantius,  with  orders  to  enter  the  city,  and  drive 
the  Romans  from  the  walls;  and  with  the  other,  threaded 
the  ravines  towards  their  position  on  the  hills.  I  had  to 
make  a  long  circuit.  The  Roman  camp  was  pitched  on  the 
ridge  of  Mount  Scopas,  seven  furlongs  from  the  city. 
Guided  by  Jubal,  I  gained  its  rear.  My  troops,  stimulated 
by  the  sight  of  the  fugitive  people,  required  all  my  efforts 
to  keep  them  from  rushing  on  the  detachments,  which  we 
saw  successively  hurrying  to  reinforce  the  assault. 

Night  fell :  but  the  signal  for  my  attack,  a  fixed  number 
of  torches  on  the  tower  of  the  Temple,  did  not  appear.  Our 
troops,  ambushed  in  the  olive-groves  skirting  the  ridge,  had 
hitherto  escaped  discovery.  At  length  they  grew  furious, 
and  bore  me  along  with  them.  As  we  burst  up  the  rugged 
sides  of  the  hill,  like  a  huge  surge  before  the  tempest,  I 
cast  a  despairing  glance  towards  the  city:  the  torches  at 
that  moment  rose.  Hope  lived  again.  The  sight  added 
wings  to  our  speed;  and,  before  the  enemy  could  recover 
from  their  astonishment,  we  were  in  the  centre  of  the 
camp.  Nothing  could  be  more  complete  than  our  success. 
The  legionaries,  sure  of  the  morning's  march  into  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  plunder  of  the  Temple,  were  caught  leaning 
in  crowds  over  the  ramparts,  unarmed,  and  making  abso- 
lute holiday.  Caius  Cestius,  their  insolent  general,  was 
carousing  in  his  tent,  after  the  fatigues  of  the  evening. 
The  tribunes  followed  his  example ;  the  soldiery  paw  noth- 
ing to  require  their  superior  abstemiousness ;  and  the  wino 
was  flowing  freelv  in  healths  to  the  next  day's  rapine,  when 
our  roar  opened  their  eyes.  To  resist  was  out  o*  the  ques- 


SALATftlfiL.  243 

tion.  Fifty  thousand  spearmen,  as  daring  as  ever  lifted 
weapons,  and  inflamed  with  the  feelings  of  their  harassed 
country,  were  in  their  midst,  and  they  fled  in  all  directions* 
I  pressed  on  to  the  general's  tent ;  but  the  prize  had  escaped ; 
he  was  gone,  on  the  first  alarm.  My  followers  indignantly 
set  it  on  fire :  the  blaze  spread,  and  the  flame  of  the  Koman 
camp  rolled  up,  like  the  flame  of  a  sacrifice  to  the  god  of 
battles. 

The  seizure  of  this  position  was  the  ruin  of  the  cohorts, 
abandoned  between  the  hill  and  the  city.  At  the  sight  of 
the 'flames,  the  gates  were  flung  open;  and  Constantius 
drove  the  assailants  from  point  to  point,  until  our  shouts 
told  him  that  we  were  marching  upon  their  rear.  The 
shock  then  was  final.  The  Eomans,  dispirited  and  sur- 
prised, broke  like  water ;  and  scarcely  a  man  of  them  lived, 
to  boast  of  having  insulted  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 

Day  arose;  and  the  Temple  met  the  rising  beam,  un- 
stained by  the  smoke  of  an  enemy's  fire.  The  wreck  of  the 
legions  lay  upon  the  declivities,  like  the  fragments  of  a 
fleet  on  the  shore.  But  this  sight,  painful  even  to  an 
enemy,  was  soon  forgotten  in  the  concourse  of  the  rescued 
citizens,  the  exultation  of  the  troops,  and  the  still  more 
seducing  vanities  that  filled  the  heart  of  their  chieftain. 

Towards  noon,  a  long  train  of  the  principal  people, 
headed  by  the  priests  and  elders,  was  seen  issuing  from  the 
gates  to  congratulate  me.  Choral  music,  and  triumphant 
shouts,  announced  their  approach  through  the  valley.  My 
heart  bounded  with  the  feelings  of  a  conqueror.  The  whole 
long  vista  of  national  honors;  the  popular  praise,  the  per- 
sonal dignity,  the  power  of  trampling  upon  the  malignant, 
the  clearness  of  my  character,  the  right  to  take  the  future 
lead  on  all  occasions  of  public  service  and  princely  re- 
nown, opened  before  my  eye. 

I  was  standing  alone  upon  the  brow  of  the  promontory. 
As  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  all  was  in  motion,  and  all 
was  directed  to  me:  the  homage  of  soldiery,  priests,  and 
people  centred  in  my  single  being.  I  involuntarily  uttered 
aloud — "At  last,  I  shall  enter  Jerusalem  in  triumph."  I 
heard  a  voice  at  my  side — "Never  shalt  thou  enter  Jeru- 
salem, but  in  sorrow !" 

An  indescribable  pang  smote  me.  There  was  not  a  living 
soul  near  me  to  have  uttered  the  words.  The  troops  were 


244  8ALATHIEL. 

standing  at  a  distance  below,  and  in  perfect  silence.  The 
words  were  spoken  close  to  my  ear.  But  I  fatally  knew 
the  voice,  and  conjecture  was  at  an  end.  I  called  Jubal  \\p 
the  peak  to  assist  me.  But  the  blow  that  smote  my  frame 
seemed  to  have  smote  his  mind.  His  eyes  rolled  wildly ; 
his  speech  was  the  language  of  a  fierce  disturbance  of 
thought,  altogether  unintelligible.  A  lunatic  stood  before 
me. 

Was  this  to  be  the  foretaste  of  my  own  afflictions  ?  Was 
I  to  see  my  kindred  and  friends  put  under  the  yoke  of 
bodily  and  mental  misery,  as  a  menace  of  the  punishment 
that  was  to  cut  asunder  my  connection  with  human 
nature  ? 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

IN  pain  and  terror  I  drew  my  unfortunate  kinsman 
from  the  gaze  of  the  troops ;  and  entreated  him  to  tell  me 
by  what  melancholy  chance  his  feelings  had  been  thus 
disturbed.  He  looked  at  me  with  a  fierce  glance  and 
half  unsheathed  his  dagger.  But  I  was  not  to  be  re- 
pelled, and  still  labored  to  soothe  him.  He  hurriedly 
grasped  the  weapon,  flung  it  down  the  steep,  and,  sink- 
ing at  my  feet,  burst  into  tears. 

An  uproar  in  the  valley  roused  me  from  the  con- 
templation of  this  wreck  of  youth  and  hope.  The  enemy, 
though  defeated,  had  suffered  little  comparative  loss.  The 
pride  of  the  legions  could  not  brook  the  idea  of  defeat, 
by  what  they  deemed  the  rabble  of  the  city  and  the  fields. 
Cestius,  under  cover  of  the  broken  country  on  our  flanks, 
had  rallied  the  fugitives  of  the  camp ;  and  now,  between 
me  and  the  city,  were  rapidly  advancing  in  columns,  forty 
thousand  men. 

The  manoeuvre  was  bold.  It  might  either  force  us  to 
fight  at  a  ruinous  disadvantage  or  to  leave  the  city  to- 
tally exposed.  But,  like  all  bold  games,  it  was  perilous; 
and  I  determined  to  make  the  Roman  feel  that  he  had 
an  antagonist  who  would  not  leave  the  game  at  his  dis- 
cretion. 

From  the  pinnacle  on  which  I  stood  the  whole  cham- 
paign lay  beneath  me.  Nothing  could  be  lovelier.  The 


SAL  AT  HI  EL.  245 

grandest  combinations  of  art  and  nature  were  before  the 
eye — Jerusalem  on  her  hills,  a  city  of  palaces,  and,  in 
that  hour,  displaying  her  full  pomp;  her  towers  stream- 
ing with  banners;  her  battlements  crowded  with  troops; 
her  priesthood  and  citizens  in  their  festal  habits,  pour- 
ing from  the  gates  and  covering  the  plain  with  the  pa- 
geant; that  plain  itself,  colored  with  the  richest  produce 
of  the  earth;  groves  of  the  olive;  declivities,  purple  with 
the  vine,  or  yellow  with  corn,  gleaming  in  the  sun,  sheets 
of  vegetable  gold. 

My  plan  was  speedily  adopted.  On  the  right  spread 
the  plain;  on  the  left  lay  the  broken  and  hilly  country, 
through  which  the  enemy  were  moving  by.  its  three  prin- 
cipal ravines.  I  felt  that  if  they  could  unite,  success, 
with  our  undisciplined  levies,  was  desperate.  The  only 
hope  was  that  of  beating  the  columns  separately  as  they 
emerged  into  the  plain.  Cavalry  had  now  begun  to  ride 
down  upon  the  processions,  which,  startled  at  the  sight, 
were  instantly  scattered  and  flying  towards  Jerusalem. 

I  heard  Jubal  utter  in  a  loud  voice :  "Enter  Jerusalem 
and  you  are  undone." 

I  looked  upon  him  with  astonishment.  But  there  was 
in  his  eye  a  sad  humility,  a  strangely  imploring  glance, 
which  formed  the  most  singular  contrast  to  the  wildness 
of  his  words.  "Be  warned !"  said  he,  pressing  close,  as  if 
he  dreaded  that  his  secret  should  be  overheard.  "I  have 
seen  horrid  things,  I  have  heard  horrid  things  since  I 
last  entered  the  city.  Beware  of  Jerusalem!  I  tell  you 
that  things  there  have  fearful  power,  that  their  hate  is 
inexorable,  and  that  you  are  its  great  object !" 

"This  is  altogether  beyond  my  conception.  How  have 
I  offended,  and  whom  ?"  I  asked. 

He  seemed  to  have  recovered  the  tone  of  his  mind. 
"You  are  charged  with  unutterable  acts.  Your  abandon- 
ment of  the  priesthood;  sights  seen  in  your  deserted 
chambers,  which  not  even  the  most  daring  would  venture 
to  inhabit ;  your  escape  from  dangers  that  must  have  ex- 
tinguished any  other  human  being,  have  bred  fatal  ru- 
mors. It  has  been  said  that  you  worshipped  in  the  bowels 
of  the  mountain  of  Masada,  where  the  magic  fire  burns 
eternally  before  the  image  of  the  Evil  One;  nay,  that 
you  even  conquered  the  fortress,  impregnable  as  it  was  to 


246  SALATHIEL. 

man,  by  a  horrid  compact;  and  that  the  raising  of  your 
standard  was  the  declared  sign  of  that  compact,  dread- 
fully to  be  repaid  by  you  and  yours !" 

"Monstrous  and  incredible  calumny!  Where  was  their 
evidence  ?  My  actions  were  before  the  face  of  the  world  !" 

"If  your  virtues  were  written  in  a  sunbeam  envy  would 
darken  and  hatred  destroy,"  exclaimed  my  kinsman,  with 
the  bold  countenance  and  manly  feeling  of  his  better 
days.  "They  have  in  their  secret  councils  stained  you 
with  a  fate  more  gloomy  than  I  can  comprehend — they 
say  that  you  are  sentenced,  even  here,  to  the  miseries  of 
guilt  beyond  the  grave." 

I  felt  as  if  he  had  stricken  a  lance  through  my  heart. 
Fiery  sparkles  shot  before  my  eyes.  I  instinctively  put 
my  hand  to  my  brow  to  feel  if  the  mark  of  Cain  were 
not  already  there.  I  gave  one  hurried  glance  at  heaven, 
as  if  to  see  the  form  of  the  destroying  angel  stooping 
over  me.  Again,  the  presence  of  the  multitude  compelled 
me  to  master  my  feelings.  I  commanded  Jubal  to  be 
ready  with  his  proofs  of  those  calumnies  against  the 
time  when  I  should  confound  my  accusers.  But  I  now 
spoke  to  the  winds.  The  interval  of  reason  was  gone.  He 
burst  out  into  the  fiercest  horrors. 

"They  pursue  me !"  exclaimed  he ;  "they  come  by  thou- 
sands, with  the  poniard  and  the  poison !  They  cry  for 
blood !  They  would  drive  me  to  a  crime  black  as  their 
own !" 

He  flung  himself  at  my  feet,  and,  clasping  them,  pre- 
vented every  effort  to  save  him  from  this  degradation. 
He  buried  his  face  in  my  robe,  and,  casting  up  a  scared 
look  from  time  to  time,  as  if  he  shrank  from  some  object 
of  terror,  apostrophized  his  vision. 

"Fearful  being,"  he  cried,  "spare  me!  Turn  away 
those  searching  eyes !  I  have  sworn  to  do  the  deed  and  it 
shall  be  done.  I  have  sworn  it  against  the  ties  of  nature, 
against  the  laws  of  Heaven ;  but  it  shall  be  done.  Now, 
begone !  See !"  He  cowered,  pointing  to  a  cloud  that 
floated  across  the  sun ;  "see ;  he  spreads  his  wings ;  he 
hovers  over  me;  the  thunders  are  flaming  in  his  hands. 
Begone,  Spirit  of  evil!  It  shall  be  done!  Look  where 
he  vanishes  into  the  heights  of  his  kingdom !  The  prince 
of  the  power  of  the  air." 


SALATHIEL.  247 

The  cloud  which  fed  the  fancy  of  my  unfortunate 
kinsman  dissolved,  and  with  it  his  fear  of  the  tempter. 
But  he  lay  exhausted  at  my  feet,  his  eyes  closed,  his  limbs 
shuddering — the  emblem  of  weakness  and  despair.  I 
tried  to  rouse  him  by  that  topic  which  would  once  have 
shot  new  life  into  his  heroic  heart. 

"Kise,  Jubal,  and  see  the  enemy.  This  battle  must  not 
be  fought  without  you.  To-day  neither  magic  nor  chance 
shall  be  imputed  to  the  conqueror,  if  I  shall  conquer. 
Jerusalem  sees  the  battle ;  and  before  the  face  of  my  coun- 
try I  will  show  the  leader,  or  will  leave  the  last  drop 
of  my  blood  upon  those  fields." 

The  warrior  kindled  within  him.  He  sprang  from  the 
ground  and  shot  down  an  eagle  glance  at  the  enemy,  who 
had  now  made  rapid  progress  and  were  beginning  to  show 
the  heads  of  their  columns  in  the  plain.  He  was  un- 
armed. I  gave  him  my  sword;  and  the  proud  humility 
with  which  he  put  it  to  his  lips  was  a  pledge  to  me  that 
it  would  be  honored  in  his  hands. 

"Glorious  thing!"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  flashed  it  before 
the  sun,  "that  raises  man  at  once  to  the  height  of  hu- 
man honors  or  sends  him  where  no  care  can  disturb  his 
rest;  the  true  sceptre  that  graces  empire;  the  true  talis- 
man, more  powerful  than  all  the  arts  of  the  enchanter! 
What,  like  thee,  can  lift  up  the  lowly,  enrich  the  desti- 
tute, and  even  restore  the  undone?  What  talent,  knowl- 
edge, gift  of  nature,  nay,  what  smile  of  fortune  can, 
like  thee,  in  one  hour  bid  the  obscure  stand  forth  the 
hero  of  a  people  or  the  wonder  of  a  world?  Now,  for 
glory !"  he  shouted  to  the  listening  circle  of  the  troops, 
who  answered  him  with  shouts.  "Now  for  glory!"  they 
cried,  and  poured  after  him  down  the  side  of  the  moun- 
tain. 

The  three  gorges  of  the  valleys  through  which  the  enemy 
moved  opened  into  the  plain  at  wide  intervals  from  each 
other.  I  saw  that  the  eagerness  of  Cestius  to  reach  the 
open  ground  was  already  hurrying  his  columns;  and  that, 
from  the  comparative  facilities  of  the  ravine  immediately 
under  my  position,  the  nearest  column  must  arrive  un- 
supported. The  moment  came.  The  helmets  and  spears 
were  already  pouring  from  the  pass,  when  a  gesture  of 
my  left  hand  let  loose  the  whole  human  torrent  upon 


248  8ALATHIEL. 

them.  Our  advantage  of  the  ground,  our  numbers,  and 
still  more,  our  brave  impetuosity,  decided  the  fate  of  this 
divison  at  once.  The  legionaries  were  not  merely  re- 

Eulsed,  they  were  absolutely  trampled  down;  there  they 
ly  as  if  a  mighty  wall,  or  fragment  of  the  mountain,  had 
fallen  upon  them. 

The  two  remaining  columns  were  still  to  be  fought. 
The  compact  and  broad  mass  of  iron  that  rushed  down 
the  ravines  seemed  irresistible;  and  when  I  cast  a  glance 
on  the  irregular  and  waving  lines  behind  me  I  felt  the 
whole  peril  of  the  day.  Yet  I  feared  idly.  The  enemy 
charged  and  forced  their  way  into  the  very  centre  of  the 
multitude,  like  two  vast  wedges  crushing  all  before  them. 
But,  though  they  could  repel,  they  could  not  conquer. 
The  spirit  of  the  Jew  fighting  before  Jerusalem  was  more 
than  heroism.  To  extinguish  a  Roman,  though  at  the  in- 
stant loss  of  life;  to  disable  a  single  spear,  though  by 
receiving  it  in  his  bosom;  to  encumber  with  his  corpse 
the  steps  of  the  adversary,  was  reward  enough  for  the 
man  of  Israel. 

I  saw  crowds  of  those  bold  peasants  fling  themselves 
on  the  ground,  creep  in  between  the  feet  of  the  legion- 
aries, and  die  stabbing  them;  others  casting  away  the 
lance  to  seize  the  Roman  bucklers  and  encumber  them  with 
the  strong  grasp  of  death;  crowds  mounting  the  rising 
grounds,  to  leap  down  upon  the  spears.  The  enemy, 
overborne  with  the  weight  of  the  multitude,  at  length 
found  it  impossible  to  move  further;  yet,  their  strength 
was  not  to  be  broken.  Wherever  we  turned  there  was 
the  same  solid  wall  of  shields,  the  same  thick  fence  of 
levelled  lances.  We  might  as  well  have  assaulted  a  rock. 
Our  arrows  rebounded  from  their  impenetrable  armor; 
the  stones  that  poured  on  them  from  innumerable  slings 
rolled  off  like  the  hail  of  a  summer  shower  from  a  roof. 
But  to  have  stopped  the  columns  and  prevented  their 
junction  was  in  itself  a  triumph.  I  felt  that  thus  we 
had  scarcely  to  do  more  than  fix  them  where  they  stood 
and  leave  the  intense  heat  of  the  day,  thirst,  and  weari- 
ness, to  fight  our  battle.  But  my  troops  were  not  to  be 
restrained.  They  still  rolled  in  furious  heaps  against 
the  living  fortification.  Every  broken  lance  in  that  im- 
penetrable barrier,  every  pierced  helmet  was  a  trophy; 


8ALATHIEL.  249 

the  fall  of  a  single  legionary  roused  a  shout  of  exulta- 
tion, and  was  the  signal  for  a  new  charge. 

But  the  battle  was  no  longer  to  be  left  to  our  unas- 
sisted efforts:  the  troops  in  Jerusalem  moved  down,  with 
Constantius  at  their  head.  In  the  perpetual  roar  of  the 
conflict  their  shouts  had  escaped  my  ear;  and  my  first 
intelligence  of  their  advance  was  from  Jubal,  who  had 
well  redeemed  his  pledge  during  the  day.  Hurrying  with 
him  to  one  of  the  eminences  that  overlooked  the  field,  I 
saw  with  pride  and  delight  the  standard  of  Naphtali 
spreading  its  red  folds  at  the  head  of  the  advancing  mul- 
titude. "Who  commands  them?"  asked  Jubal  eagerly. 

"Who  should  command  them,  with  that  banner  at  their 
head,"  replied  I,  "but  my  son,  my  brave  Constantius?" 

He  heard  no  more,  but,  bending  his  turban  to  the 
saddle  bow,  struck  the  spur  into  his  horse,  and,  with  a 
cry  of  madness,  plunged  into  the  centre  of  the  nearest 
column.  The  stroke  came  upon  it  like  a  thunderbolt; 
the  phalanx  wavered  for  the  first  time;  an  opening  was 
broken  into  its  ranks.  The  chasm  was  filled  up  by  a 
charge  of  my  hunters.  To  save  or  die  with  Jubal  was 
the  impulse !  That  charge  was  never  recovered ;  the  col- 
umn loosened,  the  multitude  pressed  in  upon  it,  and 
Constantius  arrived,  only  in  time  to  see  the  remnant  of 
the  Eoman  army  flying  to  the  disastrous  shelter  of  the 
hills. 

The  day  was  won — I  was  a  conqueror!  The  invincible 
legions  were  invincible  no  more !  I  had  conquered  under 
the  gaze  of  Jerusalem !  Where  was  the  enmity  that 
would  dare  to  murmur  against  me  now?  What  calumny 
would  not  be  crushed  by  the  force  of  national  gratitude? 
A  flood  of  absorbing  sensations  filled  my  soul.  No  elo- 
quence of  man  could  express  the  glowing  and  superb  con- 
sciousness that  swelled  my  heart  in  the  moment  when  I 
saw  the  Eomans  shake,  and  heard  the  shouts  of  my  army 
proclaiming  me  victor !  After  that  day  I  can  forgive  the 
boldest  extravagance  of  the  boldest  passion  for  war.  That 
passion  may  not  be  cruelty,  nor  the  thirst  of  possession, 
nor  the  longing  for  supremacy;  but  something  made  up 
of  them  all,  and  yet  superior  to  all — the  essential  spirit 
of  the  stirring  motives  of  the  human  mind — ambition, 
kindled  by  the  loftiest  objects  and  ennobled  by  them — a 


250  SALATHIEL. 

game  where  the  stake  is  an  endless  inheritance  of  renown, 
a  sudden  lifting  of  the  man  into  the  rank  of  those  on 
whose  names  time  can  make  no  impression — immortals, 
without  undergoing  the  penalty  of  the  grave ! 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

I  DETERMINED  to  give  the  enemy  no  respite,  and  ordered 
the  ravines  to  be  attacked  by  fresh  troops.  While  they 
were  advancing,  I  galloped  in  search  of  Jubal  over  the 
ground  of  the  last  charge.  He  was  not  to  be  seen  among 
the  living,  or  the  dead. 

The  look  of  the  field,  when  the  first  glow  of  battle 
passed,  was  enough  to  shake  a  sterner  spirit  than  mine. 
Our  advance  to  the  gorges  of  the  mountain  had  left  the 
plain  naked.  The  sea  of  turbans  and  lances  was  gone 
rolling,  like  the  swell  of  an  angry  ocean,  against  the  foot 
of  the  hills.  All  before  us  was  the  cliff  or  the  rocky  pass, 
thronged  with  helmets  and  spears.  But  all  behind  was 
death,  or  misery  worse  than  death;  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands groaning  in  agony,  crying  out  for  water  to  cool  their 
burning  lips,  -or  imploring  the  sword  to  put  them  out  of 
pain.  The  legionaries  lay  in  their  ranks,  as  they  had 
fought;  solid  piles  of  men,  horses,  and  arms,  the  true 
monuments  of  soldiership.  The  veterans  of  Rome  had  sus- 
tained the  honors  of  her  name. 

I  turned  from  this  sight  toward  the  rescued  city.  The 
sun  was  resting  on  its  towers;  the  smoke  of  the  evening 
sacrifice  was  ascending  in  slow  wreaths  from  the  altar  of 
the  sanctuary.  The  trumpets  and  voices  of  the  minstrels 
poured  a  stream  of  harmony  on  the  cool  air.  The  recollec- 
tion of  gentler  times  came  upon  my  heart.  Through  what 
scenes  of  anxious  feeling  had  I  not  passed,  since  those 
gates  closed  upon  me.  The  tramping  of  horses  roused  me 
from  this  unwarlike  reverie.  Constantius  came  up,  glow- 
ing to  communicate  the  intelligence,  that  the  last  of  the 
enemy  had  been  driven  in,  and  that  his  troops  only  awaited 
my  orders  to  force  the  passes.  I  mounted,  heard  their 
shouts,  and  was  again  the  soldier. 

But  the  iron  front  of  the  enemy  resisted  our  boldest 
attempts  to  force  the  ravines — the  hills  were  not  to  be 


8ALATHIEL.  251 

turned;  and  we  were  compelled,  after  innumerable  efforts, 
to  wait  for  the  movement  of  the  Romans  from  a  spot  which 
thirst  and  hunger  must  soon  make  untenable.  This  day 
had  stripped  them  of  their  baggage,  their  beasts  of  burden, 
and  their  military  engines. 

At  dawn  the  pursuit  began  again.  We  still  found  the 
enemy  struggling  to  escape  out  of  those  fatal  denies.  The 
day  was  worn  away  in  perpetual  attempts  to  break  the 
ranks  of  the  legionaries.  The  Jew,  light,  agile,  and  with 
nothing  to  carry  but  his  spear,  was  a  tremendous  antagonist 
to  the  Roman,  perplexed  among  rocks  and  torrents,  famish- 
ing, and  encumbered  with  an  oppressive  weight  of  armor. 
The  losses  of  this  day  were  dreadful.  Our  darts  com- 
manded their  march  from  the  heights ;  every  stone  did  exe- 
cution among  ranks  whose  armor  was  now  shattered  by 
the  perpetual  discharge.  Still  they  toiled  on,  unbroken. 
We  saw  their  long  line  laboring  with  patient  discipline 
through  the  rugged  depth  below ;  and  in  the  face  of  our  at- 
tacks they  made  way  till  night  again  covered  them. 

I  spent  that  night  on  horseback.  Fatigue  I  never  felt  in 
the  strong  excitement  of  the  time.  I  saw  multitudes  sink 
at  my  horse's  feet,  in  sleep  as  insensible  as  the  rock  on 
which  they  lay.  Sleep  never  touched  my  eyelids.  I  gal- 
loped from  post  to  post,  brought  up  reinforcements  to  my 
wearied  ranks,  and  longed  for  morn. 

It  came  at  last.  The  enemy  had  reached  the  head  of  the 
defile,  but  there  a  force  was  poured  upon  them  that  nothing 
could  resist.  Their  remaining  cavalry  were  driven  into  the 
torrent ;  the  few  light  troops  that  scaled  the  higher  grounds 
were  swept  down.  I  looked  upon  their  whole  army  as  in 
my  hands,  and  was  riding  forward  with  Constantius  and 
iny  chief  officers,  to  receive  their  surrender,  when  they  were 
saved  by  one  of  those  instances  of  devotedness  that  dis- 
tinguished the  Roman  character. 

Wearied  of  perpetual  pursuit  and  evasion,  I  had  rejoiced 
to  see  at  last  symptoms  of  a  determination  to  wait  for  us, 
and  try  the  chance  of  battle.  An  abrupt  ridge  of  rock, 
surmounted  with  a  lofty  cone,  was  the  enemy's  position, 
long  after  famous  in  Jewish  annals.  A  line  of  spearmen 
were  drawn  up  on  the  ridge ;  and  the  broken  summit  of  the 
cone,  a  space  of  a  few  hundred  yards,  was  occupied  by  .1 
cohort.  Italian  dexterity  was  employed  to  give  the  i 


252  SALATHIEL. 

that  Cestius  had  taken  his  stand  upon  this  central  spot ;  an 
eagle  and  a  concourse  of  officers  were  exhibited ;  and  upon 
this  spot  I  directed  the  principal  attack  to  be  made. 

But  the  cool  bravery  of  its  defenders  was  not  to  be 
shaken.  After  a  long  waste  of  time  in  efforts  to  scale  the 
rock,  indignant  at  seeing  victory  retarded  by  such  an 
obstacle,  I  left  the  business  to  the  slingcrs  and  archers,  an.  I 
ordered  a  perpetual  discharge  to  be  kept  up  on  the  cohort. 
This  was  decisive.  Every  stone  and  arrow  told  upon  tlvj 
little  force  crowded  together  on  the  naked  height.  Shield 
and  helmet  sank  one  by  one  under  the  mere  weight  of 
missiles.  Their  circle  rapidly  diminished,  and,  refusing 
surrender,  they  perished  to  a  man. 

But  when  we  took  possession,  the  army  were  gone.  The 
resistance  of  the  cohort  had  given  them  time  to  escape ;  and 
Cestius  sheltered  his  degraded  laurels  behind  the  ramparts 
of  Bethhoron,  by  the  sacrifice  of  four  hundred  heroes. 

This  battle,  which  commenced  on  the  eighth  day  of  tho 
month  Marchesvan,  had  no  equal  in  the  war.  The  loss  to 
the  Romans  was  unparalleled  since  the  defeat  of  Crassus. 
Two  legions  were  destroyed;  six  thousand  bodies  were  left 
on  the  field.  The  whole  preparation  for  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem fell  into  our  hands.  Then  was  the  hour  to  have 
struck  the  final  blow  for  freedom; — then  was  given  that 
chance  of  restoration  which  Providence  gives  to  every 
nation  and  every  man.  But  our  crimes,  our  wild  feuds, 
the  bigoted  fury  and  polluted  license  of  our  factions,  rose 
up  as  a  cloud  betAveen  us  and  the  light ; — we  were  made  to 
be  ruined. 

Such  were  not  my  reflections  when  I  saw  the  gates  of 
Bethhoron  closing  on  the  fugitives;  I  vowed  never  to  rest 
until  I  brought  prisoners  to  Jerusalem  the  last  of  the  sacri- 
legious host  that  had  dared  to  assault  the  Temple. 

The  walls  of  Bethhoron,  manned  only  with  the  wreck  of 
the  troops  that  we  had  routed  from  all  their  positions,  could 
offer  no  impediment  to  hands  and  hearts  like  ours.  I  or- 
dered an  immediate  assault.  The  resistance  was  desperate, 
for  beyond  this  city  there  was  no  place  of  refuge  nearer 
than  Antipatris.  We  were  twice  repulsed,  and  I  headed  the 
third  attack  myself.  The  dead  filled  up  the  ditch,  and  I 
had  alroadv  arrived  at  tho  foot  of  the  rampart,  with  the 
fscaling-ladder  in  my  hand,  when  I  heard  Jubal's  voice 


SALA'fHIEL.  253 

behind  me.  He  was  leaping  and  dancing,  in  the  attitudes 
of  utter  madness.  But  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  I 
sprang  upon  the  battlements,  tore  a  standard  from  its 
bearer,  and  waved  it  over  my  head,  with  a  shout  of  victory. 
The  plain,  the  hills,  the  valleys,  covered  with  the  host  rush- 
ing to  the  assault,  echoed  the  cry; — 1  was  at  the  summit 
of  fortune ! 

In  the  next  moment  I  felt  a  sudden  shock.  Darkness 
covered  my  eyes,  and  I  plunged  headlong. 

I  awoke  in  a  dungeon. 


CHAPTEK   XXXV. 

IN  that  dungeon  I  lay  for  two  years !  How  I  lived,  or 
how  T  bore  existence,  I  can  now  have  no  conception,  i  was 
not  mad,  nor  altogether  insensible  to  things  about  me,  nor 
e\vn  without  occasional  inclination  for  the  common  objects? 
of  our  being.  I.  used  to  look  for  the  glimmer  of  daylight, 
that  was  suffered  to  enter  my  cell.  The  reflection  of  the 
moon  in  a  pool,  of  which,  by  climbing  to  the  loophole,  T 
could  gain  a  glimpse,  was  waited  for  with  some  feeble  feel- 
ing of  pleasure ;  but  my  animal  appetites  were  more  fully 
alive  than  ever.  An  hour's  delay  of  the  miserable  provision 
1hat  was  thrown  through  my  bars  made  me  wretched.  I 
devoured  it  like  a  wild  beast,  and  then  longed  through  the 
drejivy  hours  for  its  coming  again ! 

I  made  no  attempt  to  escape.  I  dragged  myself  once  to 
the  entrance  of  the  dungeon,  found  it  secured  by  an  iron 
door,  and  never  tried  it  again.  If  every  bar  had  been 
broken,  I  scarcely  know  whether  I  should  have  attempted 
to  pass  it.  Even  in  my  more  reasoning  hours,  I  felt  no 
desire  to  move.  Destiny  was  upon  me.  My  doom  was 
mfiiked  in  characters  which  nothing  but  blindness  could 
fail  to  read ;  and  to  struggle  with  fate,  what  was  it,  but  to 
prepare  for  new  misfortunes? 

The  memory  of  my  wife  and  children  sometimes  broke 
Ihrovgh  the  icy  apathy  with  which  I  labored  to  incrust 
my  mind.  Tears  flowed ;  nature  stung  my  heart;  I  groaned, 
and  made  the  vault  ring  with  the  cries  of  the  exile  from 
earth  and  heaven.  But  this  passed  away,  and  I  was  again 
the  self -divorced  man,  without  a  tie  to  bind  him  to  transi- 


254  SALATH1EL. 

tory  things.  I  heard  the  thunder  and  the  winds;  the 
lightnings  sometimes  startled  me  from  my  savage  sleep. 
But  what  were  they  to  me !  I  was  dreadfully  secure  from 
the  fiercest  rage  of  nature.  There  were  nights  when  I  con- 
ceived that  I  could  distinguish  the  roarings  of  the  ocean, 
yiul,  shuddering,  seemed  to  hear  the  cries  of  drowning  men. 
But  those,  too,  passed  away.  I  swept  remembrance  from 
my  .mind,  and  felt  a  sort  of  vague  enjoyment  in  the  effort 
to  defy  the  last  power  of  evil.  Cold,  heat,  hunger,  waking, 
sleep,  were  the  calender  of  my  year,  the  only  points  in 
which  I  was  sensible  of  existence ;  I  felt  like  some  of  those 
torpid  animals  which,  buried  in  stones  from  the  creation, 
live  on  until  the  creation  shall  be  no  more. 

But  this  sullenness  was  only  for  the  waking  hour ;  night 
had  its  old,  implacable  dominion  over  me;  full  of  vivid 
misery,  crowded  with  the  bitter-sweet  of  memory,  I  wan- 
dered free  among  those  forms  in  which  my  spirit  had  found 
matchless  loveliness.  Then  the  cruel  caprice  of  fancy  would 
sting  me;  in  the  very  concord  of  enchanting  sounds  there 
would  come  a  funereal  voice;  in  the  circle  of  the  happy, 
I  was  appalled  by  some  hideous  visage  uttering  words  of 
mystery.  A  spectral  form  would  hang  upon  my  steps,  and 
tell  me  that  I  was  undone. 

From  one  of  those  miserable  slumbers  I  was  roused  by  a 
voice  pronouncing  my  name.  I  at  first  confounded  it  with 
the  wanderings  of  sleep.  But  a  chilling  touch  upon  my 
forehead  completely  aroused  me.  It  was  night,  yet  my 
eyes,  accustomed  to  darkness,  gradually  discovered  the  first 
intruder  who  ever  stood  within  my  living  grave;  nothing 
human  could  look  more  like  the  dead.  A  breathing  skeleton 
stood  before  me.  The  skin  clung  to  his  bones ;  misery  was 
in  every  feature  :  the  voice  was  scarcely  above  a  whisper. 

"Rise,"  said  this  wretched  being,  "prince  of  Naphtali, 
you  are  free ;  follow  me." 

Strange  thoughts  were  in  the  words.  Was  this  indeed 
the  universal  summoner — the  being  whom  the  prosperous 
dread,  but  the  wretched  love?  Had  the  King  of  Terrors 
stood  before  me,  I  could  not  have  gazed  on  him  with  more 
wonder.  "Bise,"  said  the  voice  impatiently;  "we  have 
but  an  hour  till  daybreak,  and  you  must  escape  now,  or 
never/'  The  sound  of  freedom  scattered  my  apathy.  The 
V'orld  opened  upon  my  hoart;  country,  friends,  children, 


SALATBIEL.  £55 

were  in  the  word ;  and  I  started  up  with  the  feeling  of  one 
to  whom  life  is  given  on  the  scaffold. 

My  guide  hurried  forward  through  the  winding  way  to 
the  door.  He  stopped:  I  heard  him  utter  a  groan,  strike 
fiercely  against  the  bars,  and  fall.  I  found  him  lying  at  the 
threshold  without  speech  or  motion;  carried  him  back; 
and,  by  the  help  of  the  cruse  of  water,  left  to  moisten  my 
solitary  meal,  restored  him  to  his  senses. 

"The  wind,"  said  he,  "must  have  closed  the  door,  and 
we  are  destined  to  die  together.  So  be  it ;  with  neither  of 
us  can  the  struggle  be  long.  Farewell !"  He  flung  himself 
upon  his  face.  A  noise  of  some  heavy  instrument  roused 
us  both.  He.  listened,  and  said,  "There  is  hope  still.  The 
slave  who  let  me  in  is  forcing  the  door."  We  rushed  to 
assist  him,  and  tugged  and  tore  at  the  massive  stones  in 
which  the  hinges  were  fixed ;  but  found  our  utmost  strength 
as  ineffectual  as  an  infant's.  The  slave  now  cried  out  that 
he  must  give  up  the  attempt;  that  day  was  breaking,  and 
the  guard  were  at  hand.  We  implored  him  to  try  once 
more.  By  a  violent  effort  he  drove  his  crowbar  through 
one  of  the  panels ;  the  gleam  of  light  gave  us  courage ;  and 
with  our  united  strenglh  we  heaved  at  the  joints,  which 
were  evidently  loosening.  In  the  midst  of  our  work  the 
slave  fled;  and  I  heard  a  plunge  into  the  pool  beneath. 
"He  has  perished/'  said  my  companion.  "The  door  is  on 
the  face  of  a  precipice.  He  has  fallen,  in  the  attempt  to 
escape,  and  we  are  now  finally  undone." 

The  guard,  disturbed  by  the  noise,  arrived;  and  in  the 
depths  of  our  cell  we  heard  the  day  spent  in  making  the 
impassable  barrier  firmer  than  ever. 

For  some  hours  my  companion  lay  in  that  state  of  ex- 
haustion which  I  could  not  distinguish  from  uneasy  slum- 
ber, and  which  I  attributed  to  the  fatigue  of  our  common 
labors.  But  his  groans  became  so  deep,  that  I  ventured  to 
rouse  him,  and  even  to  cheer  him  with  the  chances  of 
escape. 

"I  have  not  slept,"  said  he;  "I  shall  never  sleep  again, 
until  the  grave  gives  me  that  slumber  in  which  the  wretched 
can  alone  find  rest.  Escape !  No — for  months,  for  years, 
I  have  had  but  one  object.  I  have  traversed  mountain  and 
sea  for  it ;  I  have  given  to  it  day  and  night,  all  that  I  pos- 
sessed in  the  world;  I  could  give  no  i»nre  but  my  life;  and 


256  8ALATHIET*. 

that  too  I  give.  I  stood  within  sight  of  that  object.  But 
it  is  snatched  from  me;  and  now,  the  sooner  I  perish  the 
better."  He  writhed  with  mental  pain. 

"But  what  cause  can  you  have  for  being  here?  You 
have  not  fought  our  tyrants.  Who  are  you?" 

"One  whom  you  can  never  know — a  being  born  to  honor 
and  happiness;  but  who  perverted  them  by  pride  and  re- 
venge, and  whose  last  miserable  hope  is,  that  he  may  die 
unknown,  and  without  the  curses  that  fall  on  the  traitor 
and  the  murderer.  Prince  of  Naphtali,  farewell !" 

I  knew  the  speaker  in  those  words  of  woe.  I  cried  out: 
"Jubal,  my  friend,  my  kinsman,  my  hero !  is  it  you  then, 
who  have  risked  your  life  to  save  me  ?"  I  threw  myself  be- 
side him.  He  crept  from  me.  I  caught  his  meagre  hand; 
I  adjured  him  to  live,  and  hope. 

He  started  away  wildly.  "Touch  me  not ;  I  am  unfit  to 
live.  I — I  have  been  your  ruin;  and  yet,  He  who  knows 
the  heart,  knows  that  I  alone  am  not  to  blame.  I  was  a 
dupe  to  furious  passions,  the  victim  of  evil  counsellors,  the 
prey  of  disease  of  mind.  On  my  crimes  may  Heaven  have 
mercy !  They  are  beyond  the  forgiveness  of  man." 

By  the  feeble  light,  which  showed  scarcely  more  than 
the  wretchedness  of  my  dungeon,  I  made  some  little  prep- 
aration for  the  refreshment  of  this  feverish  and  famished 
being.  His  story  agitated  him;  and,  strongly  awakened 
as  my  curiosity  was,  I  forbore  all  question.  But  it  lay  a 
burden  on  his  mind,  and  I  suffered  him  to  make  his  con- 
fession. 

"I  loved  Salome,"  said  he;  "but  I  was  so  secure  of  ac- 
ceptance, according  to  the  custom  of  our  tribe,  that  I  never 
conceived  the  possibility  of  an  obstacle  to  our  marriage. 
My  love  and  my  pride  were  equally  hurt.  The  new  dis- 
tinctions of  her  husband  made  my  envy  bitterness.  To 
change  the  scene,  I  went  to  Jerusalem.  I  there  found 
malice  active.  Your  learning  and  talents  had  made  you 
obnoxious  long  before;  your  new  fame  and  rank  turned 
envy  into  hatred.  Onias,  whose  dagger  you  turned  from 
the  bosom  of  the  noble  Eleazar,  remembered  his  disgrace. 
He  headed  the  conspiracy  against  you,  and  nothing  but  the 
heroic  vigor  with  which  you  stirred  up  the  nation  could 
have  saved  you  long  since  from  the  last  extremities  of  fac- 
tion. My  unhappy  state  of  mind  threw  me  into  his  hands, 


SALATHIEL. 

1  was  inflamed  against  you  by  perpetual  calumnies.  It  was 
even  proposed  that  I  should  accuse  you  before  the  San- 
hedrin  of  dealing  with  the  powers  of  darkness.  Proofs  were 
offered  which  my  bewildered  reason  could  scarcely  resist.  1 
was  assailed  with  subtle  argument;  stimulated  by  sights 
and  scenes  of  strange  import,  horrid  and  mysterious  dis- 
plays, which  implicate  the  leaders  of  Jerusalem  deeply  in 
the  crime  of  the  idolaters.  Spirits,  or  the  semblances  of 
spirits,  Mrere  raised  before  my  eyes;  voices  were  heard  in 
the  depths  and  in  the  air,  denouncing  you,  even  you,  as  the 
enemy  of  Judea  and  of  man ;  I  was  commanded,  in  the 
midst  of  thunders,  real  or  feigned,  to  destroy  you." 

Here  his  voice  sank,  his  frame  quivered;  and  wrapping 
his  head  in  his  cloak,  he  remained  long  silent.  To  relieve 
him  from  this  confession,  I  asked  for  intelligence  of  my 
family  and  of  the  country.  "Of  your  family  I  can  tell  you 
nothing,"  said  he,  mournfully ;  "I  shrank  from  the  very 
mention  of  their  name.  During  these  two  years,  I  had  but 
one  pursuit — the  discovery  of  your  prison.  I  refused  to  hear, 
to  think,  of  other  things.  1  felt  that  I  was  dying,  and  I 
dreaded  to  appear  before  the  great  tribunal  with  the  groans 
from  your  dungeon  rising  up  to  stifle  my  prayers." 

"But  is  our  country  still  torn  by  the  Roman  wolves  ?" 

"The*  whole  land  is  in  tumult.  Blood  and  horror  are 
under  every  roof  from  Lebanon  to  Idumea.  The  Roman 
sword  is  out,  and  it  falls  with  cruel  havoc ;  but  the  Jewish 
dagger  pays  it  home,  and  the  legions  quail  before  the  naked 
valor  of  the  peasantry.  Yet  what  are  valor  or  patriotism 
to  us  now  ?  We  are  in  our  grave !" 

The  thought  of  my  family,  exposed  to  the  miseries  of  a 
ferocious  war,  only  kindled  my  eagerness  to  escape  from 
this  den  of  oblivion.  It  was  evening,  and  the  melancholy 
moon  threw  the  old  feeble  gleam  on  the  water,  which  had 
so  long  been  to  me  the  only  mirror  of  her  countenance.  I 
suddenly  observed  the  light  darkened  by  a  figure  stealing 
along  the  edge  of  the  pool.  It  approached,  and  the  words 
were  whispered — "It  is  impossible  to  break  open  the  door 
from  without  while  the  guard  are  on  the  watch;  but  try 
whether  it  cannot  be  opened  from  within."  A  crowbar 
was  pushed  into  the  loophole;  its  bearer,  the  slave,  who 
had  escaped  by  swimming,  jumped  down  and  was  gone. 

I  left  Jubal  where  he  lay,  lingered  at  the  door  till  all  ex- 


258  8ALATHIEL. 

ternal  sounds  ceased,  and  then  made  my  desperate  attempt. 
I  was  wasted  by  confinement;  but  the  mind  is  force.  I 
labored  with  furious  effort  at  the  mass  of  bolt  and  bar, 
and  at  length  felt  it  begin  to  give  way.  I  saw  a  star,  the 
first  for  long  years,  twinkling  through  the  fracture.  An 
hour's  labor  more  unfixed  the  huge  hinge,  and  I  felt  the 
night  air  cool  and  fragrant  on  my  cheek.  I  now  grasped 
the  last  bar,  and  was  in  the  act  of  forcing  it  from  the  wall 
when  the  thought  of  Jubal  struck  me.  There  was  a  struggle 
of  a  moment  in  my  mind.  To  linger  now  might  be  to  give 
the  guard  time  to  intercept  me.  I  was  ravening  for  liberty. 
It  was  to  me  at  that  moment  what  water  in  the  desert  is 
to  the  dying  caravan — the  sole  assuaging  of  a  frantic  thirst, 
of  a  fiery  and  consuming  fever  of  the  soul.  If  every  grain 
of  dust  under  my  feet  were  diamonds,  I  would  have  given 
them  to  feel  myself  treading  the  dewy  grass  that  lay  waving 
on  the  hill-side  before  me. 

A  tall  shadow  passed  along.  It  was  that  of  a  mountain 
shepherd,  spear  in  hand,  guarding  his  flock  from  the  wolves. 
He  stopped  at  a  short  distance  from  the  dungeon,  and, 
gazing  on  the  moon,  broke  out  with  a  rude,  but  not  unsweet, 
voice,  into  song.  The  melody  was  wild,  a  lamentation  over 
the  fallen  glories  of  Judea,  "whose  sun  was  set,  and  whose 
remaining  light,  sad  and  holy  as  the  beauty  of  the  moon 
must  soon  decay."  The  word  freedom  mingled  in  the  strain 
and  every  note  of  that  solemn  strain  vibrated  to  my  heart. 
The  shepherd  passed  along. 

I  tore  down  the  bar,  and  gazed  upon  the  glorious  face  of 
heaven.  My  feet  were  upon  the  free  ground !  I  returned 
hastily  to  the  cell,  and  told  Jubal  the  glad  tidings ;  but  he 
heard  me  not.  To  abandon  him  there  was  to  give  him  up 
to  inevitable  death,  either  by  the  swords  of  the  guard,  or  by 
the  less  merciful  infliction  of  famine.  I  carried  him  on  my 
shoulders  to  the  entrance.  A  roar  of  ridicule  broke  on  me 
at  the  threshold.  The  guard  stood  drawn  up  in  front  of 
the  dilapidated  door:  and  the  sight  of  the  prisoner  en- 
trapped in  the  very  crisis  of  escape  was  the  true  food  for 
ruffian  mirth.  Staggering  under  my  burden,  I  yet  burst 
forward;  but  I  was  received  in  a  circle  of  levelled  spears. 
Resistance  was  now  desperate;  yet  even  when  sunk  upon 
the  ground  under  my  burden,  I  attempted  to  resist,  or 
gather  their  points  in  my  bosom  and  perish.  But  my  feeble 


SALATHIEL.  259 

efforts  only  raised  new  scoffing.  I  was  unworthy  of  Eoman 
steel;  and  the  guard,  after  amusing  themselves  with  my 
impotent  rage,  dragged  me  within  the  passage,  placed  Ju- 
bal,  who  neither  spoke  nor  moved,  beside  me,  blocked  up 
the  door,  and  wished  me  "better  success  the  next  time." 

I  spent  the  remainder  of  that  night  in  fierce  agitation. 
The  apathy,  the  protecting  scorn  of  external  things,  that  1 
had  nurtured,  as  other  men  would  nurture  happiness,  was 
gone.  The  glimpse  of  the  sky  haunted  me;  a  hundred 
times  in  the  night  I  thought  that  I  was  treading  on  the 
grass ;  that  I  felt  its  refreshing  moisture ;  that  the  air  was 
breathing  balm  on  my  cheek;  that  the  shepherd's  song  was 
still  echoing  in  my  ears,  and  that  I  saw  him  pointing  to  a 
new  way  of  escape  from  my  inextricable  dungeon.  In  one 
of  those  half-dreams  I  flung  the  crowbar  from  my  hand. 
A  sound  followed  like  the  fall  of  stones  into  the  water. 
The  sound  continued.  Still  stranger  echoes  followed,  which 
my  bewildered  fancy  turned  into  all  similitudes  of  earth 
and  ocean — the  march  of  troops,  the  distant  roar  of  thun- 
der, the  dashing  of  billows,  the  clamor  of  battle,  boisterous 
mirth,  and  the  groaning  and  heaving  of  masts  and  rigging 
in  storm.  The  dungeon  was  as  dark  as  death,  and  I  felt 
my  way  towards  the  sound.  To  my  surprise  the  accidental 
blow  of  the  bar  had  loosened  a  part  of  the  wall,  and  made 
an  orifice  large  enough  to  admit  the  human  body.  The 
pale  light  of  morning  showed  a  cavern  beyond,  narrow  and 
rugged.  It  branched  into  a  variety  of  passages,  some  of 
them  fit  for  nothing  but  the  fox's  burrow.  I  returned  to 
the  lair  of  my  unhappy  companion  and  prevailed  on  him 
to  follow,  only  by  the  declaration  that  if  he  refused,  I  must 
perish  by  his  side.  My  scanty  provisions  were  gathered  up. 
I  led  the  way,  and,  determined  never  to  return  to  the  place 
of  my  misery,  we  set  forward  to  tempt  in  utter  darkness 
the  last  chances  of  famine — pilgrims  of  the  tomb. 

We  wandered  through  a  fearful  labyrinth  for  a  period 
which  utterly  exhausted  us.  I  was  sinking,  when  a  low 
groan  struck  my  ear.  I  listened  pantingly ;  it  came  again. 
It  was  evidently  from  some  object  close  beside  me.  I  put 
forth  my  hand  and  pushed  in  the  door  of  a  large  cavern ;  H 
flash  of  light  illumined  the  -passage.  Another  step  would 
have  plunged  us  into  a  pool  a  thousand  feet  below. 


260  8ALATB1EL. 

CHAPTEK  XXXVI. 

THE  cavern  thus  opened  to  us  seemed  to  be  the  maga- 
zine of  some  place  of  trade.  It  was  crowded  with  chests 
and  bales,  heaped  together  in  disorder.  What  dangerous 
owners  we  might  meet  cost  us  no  question;  life  and  lib- 
erty were  before  us.  I  cheered  Jubal  till  his  scattered 
senses  returned  and  he  clasped  my  feet  in  humiliation  and 
gratitude. 

We  were  now  like  men  created  anew.  We  forced  our 
way  through  piles  that  but  an  hour  before  would  have 
been  mountains  to  our  despairing  strength.  The  cavern 
opened  into  another,  which  seemed  the  dwelling  of  some 
master  of  extraordinary  opulence.  Silken  tissues  hung  on 
the  walls ;  the  ceiling  was  a  Tyrian  canopy ;  precious  vases 
stood  on  tables  of  citron  and  ivory.  A  large  lyre,  superb- 
ly ornamented,  was  suspended  in  an  opening  of  the  rock, 
and  gave  its  melancholy  music  to  the  wind.  But  no  hu- 
man being  was  to  be  seen.  Was  this  one  of  the  true 
wonders  which  men  classed  among  the  fictions  of  Greece 
and  Asia?  The  Nereids  with  their  queen  could  not  have 
sought  a  more  secluded  palace.  Onward  we  heard  the 
sounds  of  ocean.  We  followed  them ;  and  saw  one  of  those 
scenes  of  grandeur  which  nature  creates,  as  if  to  show 
the  littleness  of  man. 

An  arch  three  times  the  height  of  the  loftiest  temple 
and  ribbed  with  marble,  rose  broadly  over  our  heads. 
Innumerable  shafts  of  the  purest  alabaster,  rounded  with 
the  perfection  of  sculpture,  rose  in  groups  and  clusters  to 
the  solemn  roof:  wild  flowers  and  climbing  plants  of 
every  scent  and  hue  gathered  round  the  capitals,  and 
hung  the  gigantic  sides  of  the  hall  with  a  lovelier  decora- 
tion than  ever  was  wrought  in  loom.  The  awful  beauty 
of  this  ocean  temple  bowed  the  heart  in  instinctive  hom- 
age. I  felt  the  sacredness  of  nature.  But  this  grandeur 
was  alone  worthy  of  the  spectacle  to  which  it  opened. 
The  whole  magnificence  of  the  Mediterranean  spread  be- 
fore our  eyes,  smooth  as  polished  silver,  and  now  reflecting 
the  glories  of  the  west.  The  sun  lay  on  the  horizon  in 
the  midst  of  crimson  clouds,  like  a  monarch  on  the 
funeral  pile,  sinking  in  the  splendors  of  a  conflagration 
that  lighted  earth  and  ocean. 


BALATHIEL.  261 

But  at  this  noble  portal  we  had  reached  our  limit.  The 
sides  of  the  cavern  projected  so  far  into  the  waters  as  to 
make  a  small  anchorage.  Access  or  escape  by  land  was 
palpably  impossible.  Yet  here  at  least  we  were  masters. 
No  claimant  presented  himself  to  dispute  our  title.  The 
provisions  of  our  unknown  host  were  ample,  and,  to  our 
eager  tastes,  were  dangerous  from  their  luxury.  The 
evening  which  we  passed  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  ex- 
hilarated with  the  first  sensation  of  liberty,  and  enjoy- 
ing every  aspect  and  voice  of  the  lovely  scene,  with  the 
keeness  of  the  most  unhoped-for  novelty,  was  a  full  rec- 
ompense for  the  toils  and  terrors  of  the  labyrinth. 

The  sun  went  down.  Still  all  before  us  was  peace. 
The  surge  that  died  at  our  feet  murmured  peace;  the 
wheeling  sea  birds,  as  their  long  trains  steered  home- 
ward, pouring  out  from  time  to  time  a  clangor  of  wild 
sounds  that  descended  to  us  in  harmony;  the  little  white- 
sailed  vessels,  that  skimmed  along  the  distant  waters  like 
summer  flies;  the  breeze  waving  the  ivy  and  arbutus  that 
festooned  our  banquet  hall;  alike  spoke  to  the  heart  the 
language  of  peace. 

"If/'  said  I,  "my  deathbed  were  to  be  left  to  my  own 
choice,  on  the  edge  of  this  cavern  would  I  wish  to  take 
my  last  farewell." 

"To  the  dying  all  places  must  be  indifferent,"  replied 
my  companion :  "when  Death  is  at  hand  and  his  shadow  fills 
the  mind.  What  matters  it  to  the  exile,  who  in  a  few  mo- 
ments must  leave  his  country  forever,  on  what  spot  of 
its  shore  his  last  step  is  planted?  Perhaps  the  lovelier 
that  spot  the  more  painful  the  parting.  If  I  must  have 
my  choice,  let  me  die  in  the  dungeon,  or  in  battle;  in  the 
chain  that  makes  me  hate  the  earth,  or  in  the  struggle 
that  makes  it  forgotten." 

"Yet,"  said  I,  "even  for  battle,  if  we  would  acquit  our- 
selves as  become  men,  is  not  some  previous  rest  almost 
essential?  And  for  the  sterner  conflict  with  that  mighty 
enemy  before  whom  our  strength  is  vapor,  is  it  not  well 
to  prepare  the  whole  means  of  mental  fortitude?  I  would 
not  perish  in  the  irritation  of  the  dungeon;  in  the  blind 
fury  of  man  against  man ;  nor  in  the  hot  and  giddy  whirl 
of  human  cares.  Let  me  lay  my  sinking  frame  where 
nothing  shall  intrude  upon  the  nobler  business  of  the 


262  SAL  AT  HI  EL. 

mind.  But  those  are  melancholy  thoughts.  Come,  Ju- 
bal,  fill  to  the  speedy  deliverance  of  our  country." 

"Here,  then,  to  her  speedy  deliverance,  and  the  glory 
of  those  who  fight  her  battles!"  The  cup  was  filled  to 
the  brim;  but  just  as  the  wine  touched  his  lips  he  flung 
it  away.  "No,"  exclaimed  he,  in  bitterness  of  soul,  "it  is 
not  for  such  as  I  to  join  in  the  aspirations  of  the  patriot 
and  the  soldier.  Prince  of  Naphtali,  your  generous  na- 
ture has  forgiven  me,  but  there  is  an  accuser  here" — and 
he  struck  his  withered  hand  wildly  upon  his  bosom — 
"that  can  never  be  silenced.  Under  the  delusions,  the 
infernal  delusions  of  your  enemies,  I  followed  you  through 
a  long  period  of  your  career  unseen.  Every  act,  almost 
every  thought,  was  made  known  to  me;  for  you  were  sur- 
rounded by  the  agents  of  your  enemies.  I  was  driven  on 
by  the  belief  that  you  were  utterly  accursed  by  our  law, 
and  that  to  drive  the  dagger  to  your  heart  was  to  re- 
deem our  cause.  But  the  act  was  against  my  nature,  and 
in  the  struggle  my  reason  failed.  When  I  stood  before 
you  on  the  morning  of  the  great  battle,  you  saw  me  in 
one  of  those  fits  of  frenzy  that  always  followed  a  new 
command  to  murder.  I  reached  Bethhoron  in  the  midst 
of  the  assault.  Still  frantic,  I  thought  that  in  you  I 
saw  my  rival  victorious.  It  was  this  hand,  this  parricidal 
hand,  that  struck  the  blow."  He  covered  his  face  and 
wept  convulsively. 

The  mystery  of  my  captivity  was  now  cleared  up,  and, 
feeling  only  pity  for  the  ruin  that  remorse  had  made,  I 
succeeded  at  last  in  restoring  him  to  some  degree  of  calm- 
ness. I  even  ventured  to  cheer  him  with  the  hope  of  better 
days,  when  in  the  palace  of  his  fathers  I  should  acknowl- 
edge my  deliverer.  With  a  pressure  of  the  hand  and  a 
melancholy  smile,  "I  know,"  said  he,  "that  I  hzive  not 
long  to  live.  But  if  a  prayer  of  mine  is  to  be  answered 
by  that  greatest  of  all  Powers  whom  I  have  so  deeply 
offended,  it  would  be  to  die  in  some  act  of  service  to  my 
prince  and  my  pardoner !  But  hark !" 

A  groan  was  uttered  close  to  the  spot  where  we  sat.  I 
perceived,  for  the  first  time,  an  opening  behind  some 
furniture;  entered,  and  saw  lying  on  a  bed  a  man  ap- 
parently in  the  last  stage  of  exhaustion.  He  exclaimed : 
"Three  days  of  misery — three  days  loft  alone  to  die— 


SALATHIEL.  263 

without  food,  without  help,  abandoned  by  all.  But  I  have 
deserved  it.  Traitor  and  villain  as  I  am,  I  have  deserved 
a  thousand  deaths !" 

I  looked  upon  this  outcryias  but  the  raving  of  pain,  and 
brought  him  some  wine.  He  swallowed  it  with  avidity, 
but  even  while  I  held  the  cup  to  his  lips,  he  sank  back 
with  a  cry  of  horror.  "Ay,"  cried  he,  "I  knew  that  I 
could  not  escape  you;  you  are  come  at  last.  Spirit,  leave 
me  to  die !  Or  if,"  said  he,  half  rising  and  looking  in 
my  face  with  a  steady  yet  dim  glare,  "you  can  tell  the 
secrets  of  the  grave,  tell  me  what  is  my  fate.  I  adjure 
you,  fearful  being,  by  the  God  of  Israel ;  by  the  gods  of  the 
Pagan;  or  if  you  acknowledge  any  god  beyond  the  dreams 
of  miserable  man,  tell  me  what  I  am  to  be." 

I  continued  silent  and  struck  with  the  agony  of  his 
features.  Jubal  entered,  and  the  looks  of  the  dying  man 
were  turned  on  him. 

"More  of  them !"  he  exclaimed,  "more  tormentors !  More 
terrible  witnesses  of  the  tortures  of  a  wretch  whom  earth 
casts  out !  What  I  demand  of  you  is  the  fate  of  those 
who  live  as  I  have  lived?  The  betrayer,  the  plunderer, 
the  man  of  blood?  But  you  will  give  me  no  answer. 
The  time  of  your  power  is  not  come."  He  lay  for  a  short 
period  in  mental  sufferings;  then,  starting  upon  his  feet 
by  an  extraordinary  effort  of  nature,  and  with  furious 
execrations  at  the  tardiness  of  death,  he  tore  off  the 
bandage  which  covered  a  wound  on  his  forehead.  The 
blood  streamed  down  and  made  him  a  ghastly  spectacle. 
"Ay,"  cried  he,  as  he  looked  upon  his  stained  hands, 
"this  is  the  true  color;  the  traitor's  blood  should  cover 
the  traitor's  hands.  Years  of  crime,  this  is  your  reward. 
The  betrayal  of  my  noble  master  to  death,  the  ruin  of  his 
house,  the  destruction  of  his  name;  these  were  the  right 
beginnings  to  the  life  of  the  robber." 

A  peal  of  thunder  rolled  over  our  heads,  and  the  gush 
of  the  rising  waves  roared  through  the  cavern. 

"Ay,  there  is  your  army,"  he  cried,  "coming  in  the 
storm.  I  have  seen  your  angry  visages  at  night  in  the 
burning  village;  I  have  seen  you  in  the  shipwreck;  I 
have  seen  you  in  the  howling  wilderness;  but  now  I  see 
you  in  shapes  more  terrible  than  all." 

The  wind  bursting  through  the,  long  vaults,  forced  open 


264  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

the  door.  "Welcome,  welcome  to  your  prey,"  he  yelled, 
and,  drawing  a  knife  from  his  sash,  darted  it  into  his 
bosom.  The  act  was  so  instantaneous  that  to  arrest  the 
blow  was  impossible.  He  fell,  and  died  with  a  brief,  fierce 
struggle. 

"Horrible  end,"  murmured  Jubal,  gazing  on  the  silent 
form;  "happier  for  that  wretch  to  have  perished  in  the 
hottest  strife  of  man  or  nature,  trampled  in  the  charge  or 
plunged  into  the  billows!  Save  me  from  the  misery  of 
lonely  death !" 

"Yet,"  said  I,  "it  was  our  presence  that  made  him  feel. 
He  was  guilty  of  some  crime,  perhaps  of  many,  which 
the  sight  of  us  awoke  to  torment  his  dying  hour.  I  saw 
that  he  gazed  upon  me  with  evident  alarm,  and  not  im- 
probably my  withered  face  and  those  rags  of  my  dungeon 
startled  him  into  recollections  too  strong  for  his  decaying 
reason." 

"Have  you  ever  seen  him  before?" 

"Never."  I  gave  a  reluctant  look  to  the  hideous  dis- 
tortion of  a  countenance  still  full  of  the  final  agony.  I 
turned  away  in  awe. 

"Now,  Jubal,  to  think  of  ourselves.  We  shall  have 
soon  our  own  experiment  fairly  tried.  A  few  days  must 
exhaust  our  provisions.  The  surges  roll  on  the  one  hand; 
on  the  other  we  have  the  rock." 

"But  we  shall  die  at  least  in  pomp,"  said  he.  "No 
king  of  Asia  will  lie  in  a  nobler  vault,  nor  even  have  sin- 
cerer  rejoicings  at  his  end;  the  crows  and  vultures  are  no 
hypocrites." 

The  dead  man's  turban  had  fallen  off  in  his  last  vio- 
lence, and  I  perceived  the  corner  of  a  letter  in  its  folds. 
I  read  it;  its  intelligence  startled  me.  It  was  from  the 
commandant  of  the  Eoman  fleet  on  the  coast,  mention- 
ing that  a  squadron  was  in  readiness  to  "attack  the  pi- 
rates in  their  cavern." 

A  heavy  sound,  as  if  something  of  immense  weight 
had  rushed  into  the  entrance  of  the  arch,  followed  by 
many  voices,  stopped  our  conversation.  "The  Romans 
have  come,"  said  I,  "and  you  will  be  now  indulged  with 
your  wish,  for  never  will  I  go  back  to  the  dungeon." 

"I  hear  no  sound  but  that  of  laughter,"  said  Jubal, 
listening;  "those  invaders  are  the  merriest  of  cut-throats. 


SALATHIEL.  265 

But  before  we  give  ourselves  actually  into  their  hands, 
let  us  see  of  what  they  are  made." 

We  left  the  chamber,  and  returned  to  the  recess  from 
which  we  had  originally  emerged.  It  commanded  a  view 
of  the  chief  avenues  of  the  cavern;  and  while  I  secured 
the  door,  Jubal  mounted  the  wall  and  reconnoitred  the 
enemy  through  a  fissure.  "These  are  no  Romans,"  whis- 
pered he,  "but  a  set  of  the  most  jovial  fellows  that  ever 
robbed  on  the  seas.  They  have  clearly  been  driven  in  by 
the  storm,  and  are  now  preparing  to  feast.  Their  voy- 
age has  been  lucky,  if  I  am  to  judge  by  the  bales  that 
they  are  hauling  in;  and  if  wine  can  do  it,  they  will  be 
in  an  hour  or  two  drunk  to  the  last  man." 

"Then  we  can  take  advantage  of  their  sleep,  let  loose 
one  of  their  boats,  and  away,"  said  I. 

I  mounted  to  see  this  pirate  festivity.  In  the  various 
vistas  of  the  huge  cavern,  groups  of  bold-faced  and  athletic 
men  were  gathering,  all  busy  with  the  work  of  the  time; 
some  piling  fires  against  the  walls  and  preparing  pro- 
visions; some  stripping  off  their  wet  garments  and  bring- 
ing others  out  of  heaps  of  every  kind  and  color  in  the  re- 
cesses of  the  rock:  some  wiping  the  spray  from  rusty  hel- 
mets and  corslets.  The  vaults  rang  with  songs,  boister- 
ous laughter,  the  rattling  of  armor,  and  the  creaking  and 
rolling  of  chests  of  plunder.  The  dashing  of  the  sea  under 
the  gale  filled  up  this  animated  dissonance;  and,  at  inter- 
vals, the  thunder,  bursting  directly  above  our  heads,  min- 
gled with  all,  and  overpowered  all. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  chamber  whose  costly  equipment  first  told  us  of 
the  opulence  of  its  masters,  was  set  apart  for  the  chief 
rovers,  who  were  soon  seated  at  a  large  table  in  its  centre, 
covered  with  luxury.  Flagons  of  wine  were  brought  from 
cellars  known  only  to  the  initiated ;  fruits  piled  in  silver 
baskets  blushed  along  the  board ;  plate  of  the  richest  work- 
manship, the  plunder  of  palaces,  glittered  in  every  form; 
tripods  loaded  with  aromatic  wood  threw  a  blaze  up  to 
the  roof;  and  from  the  central  arch  hung  a  superb  Greek 
lamp,  shooting  out  light  from  a  hundred  mouths  of  ser- 


266  SALATHIEL. 

pents  twined  in  all  possible  ways.  The  party  before  me 
were  about  thirty,  as  fierce-looking  figures  as  ever  toiled 
through  tempest:  some  splendidly  attired,  some  in  the 
rough  costume  of  the  deck;  but  all  jovial,  and  evidently  de- 
termined to  make  the  most  of  their  time.  Other  men 
had  paid  for  the  banquet;  and  there  was  probably  not  a 
vase  on  their  table  that  was  not  the  purchase  of  personal 
hazard.  They  sat,  conquerors,  in  the  midst  of  their  own 
trophies;  and  not  the  most  self-indulgent  son  of  opulence 
could  have  more  luxuriated  in  his  wealth,  nor  the  most 
exquisite  student  of  epicurism  have  discussed  his  lux- 
uries with  more  finished  and  fastidious  science.  Loung- 
ing on  couches  covered  with  embroidered  draperies  too 
costly  for  all  but  princes,  they  lectured  the  cooks  without 
mercy:  the  venison,  pheasants,  sturgeon  and  a  multitude 
of  other  dishes  were  in  succession  pronounced  utterly 
unfit  to  be  touched;  and  the  wine  was  tasted  and  often, 
dismissed  with  the  caprice  of  palates  refined  to  the  high- 
est point  of  delicacy.  Yet  the  sea  air  was  not  to  be  trifled 
with;  and  a  succession  of  courses  appeared  and  were  de- 
spatched with  a  diligence  that  prohibited  all  language 
beyond  the  pithy  phrases  of  delight  or  disapointment. 

The  wine  at  length  set  the  conversation  flowing;  and, 
from  the  merits  of  the  various  vintages,  the  speakers  di- 
verged into  the  general  subjects  of  politics  and  their 
profession;  on  the  former  of  which  they  visited  all  par- 
ties with  tolerably  equal  ridicule,  and  on  the  latter  de- 
clared unanimously  that  the  only  cause  worthy  of  a  man 
of  sense  was  the  cause  for  which  they  were  assembled 
round  that  table.  The  next  stage  was  the  more  hazard- 
ous one  of  personal  jocularity;  yet  even  this  was  got  over 
with  but  a  few  murmurs  from  the  parties  suffering. 
Songs  and  toasts  to  themselves,  their  loves,  and  their  en- 
terprises in  all  time  to  come,  relieved  the  drier  topics ; 
and  all  was  good  fellowship,  until  one  unlucky  goblet  of 
spoiled  wine  soured  the  banquet. 

"So  this  you  call  Chian,"  exclaimed  a  broad-built  fig- 
ure, whose  yellow  hair  and  blue  eyes  showed  him  to  be  a 
son  of  the  North;  "may  I  be  poisoned,"  and  he  made  a 
hideous  grimace,  "if  more  detestable  vinegar  ever  was 
brewed ;  let  me  but  meet  the  merchant,  and  I  shall  teach 
him  a  lesson  that  he  will  remember  when  next  he  thinka 


SALATHIEL.  267 

of  murdering  men  at  their  meals.  Here,  baboon,  take  it; 
it  is  fit  only  for  such  as  you."  He  flung  the  goblet  point- 
blank  at  the  head  of  a  negro,  who  escaped  it  only  by 
bounding  to  one  side  with  the  agility  of  the  ape,  that 
he  much  resembled. 

"Bad  news,  Vladomir,  for  our  winter's  stock,  for  half 
of  it  is  Chian,"  said  a  dark-featured  and  brilliant-eyed 
Arab,  who  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table.  "Ho !  Syphax, 
fill  round  from  that  flagon,  and  let  us  hold  a  council  of 
v/ar  upon  the  delinquent  wine." 

The  slave  dexterously  changed  the  wine;  it  was  poured 
round,  pronounced  first-rate,  and  the  German  was  laughed 
at  remorselessly. 

"I  suppose  I  am  not  to  believe  my  own  senses,"  re- 
monstrated Vladomir. 

"Oh !  by  all  means,  as  long  as  you  keep  them,"  said  one, 
laughing. 

"Will  you  tell  me  that  I  don't  know  the  difference  be- 
tween wine  and  that  poison?" 

"Neither  you  nor  any  man,  friend  Vladomir,  can  know 
much  upon  the  subject  after  his  second  dozen  of  gob- 
lets," sneered  another  at  the  German's  national  propen- 
sity. 

"You  do  him  injustice,"  said  a  subtle-visaged  Chiote 
at  the  opposite  side  of  the  table.  "He  is  as  much  in 
his  senses  this  moment  as  ever  he  was.  There  are  brains 
of  that  happy  constitution  which  defies  alike  reason  and 
wine." 

"Well,  I  shall  say  no  more,"  murmured  the  German, 
sullenly,  "than,  confound  the  spot  on  which  that  wine 
grew,  wherever  it  lies;  the  hungriest  vineyard  on  the 
Ehine  would  be  ashamed  to  show  its  equal.  By  Woden, 
the  very  taste  will  go  with  me  to  my  grave." 

"Perhaps  it  may,"  said  the  Chiote,  irritated  for  the 
honor  of  his  country,  and  significantly  touching  his  dag- 
ger. "But  were  you  ever  in  the  island?" 

"Xo,  nor  ever  shall,  with  my  own  consent,  if  that  flagon 
be  from  it,"  growled  the  German,  with  his  broad  eye 
glaring  on  his  adversary.  "I  have  seen  enough  of  its 
produce,  alive  and  dead  to-night." 

The  wind  roared  without,  and  a  tremendous  thunder- 
peal checked  the  angry  dialogue.  There  was  a  general 
pause. 


268  8ALATHIEL. 

"Come,  comrades,  no  quarrelling,"  cried  the  Arab. 
"Heavens,  how  the  storm  comes  on !  Nothing  can  ride 
out  to-night.  Here's  the  captain's  health,  and  safe  home 
to  him."  The  cups  were  filled,  but  the  disputants  wert> 
not  to  be  so  easily  reconciled. 

"Ho !  Memnon,"  cried  the  master  of  the  table,  to  a  sal- 
low Egyptian  richly  clothed,  and  whose  scimitar  and  dag- 
ger sparkled  Avith  jewels.  He  was  engaged  in  close  coun- 
cil with  the  rover  at  his  side.  "Lay  by  business  nov,-; 
you  don't  like  the  wine,  or  the  toast?" 

The  Egyptian,  startled  from  his  conference,  professed 
his  perfect  admiration  of  both,  and,  sipping,  returned  to 
his  whisper. 

"Memnon  will  not  drink,  for  fear  of  letting  out  his 
secrets;  for  instance,  where  he  found  that  scimitar,  or 
what  has  become  of  the  owner,"  said  a  young  and  hand- 
some Idumean,  with  a  smile. 

"I  should  like  to  know  by  what  authority  you  ask  me 
questions  on  the  subject.  If  it  had  been  in  your  hands, 
I  should  have  never  thought  any  necessary,"  retorted  the 
scowling  Egyptian. 

"Ay,  of  course  not,  Memnon:  my  way  is  well  known. 
Fight  rather  than  steal;  plunder  rather  than  cheat;  and, 
after  the  affair  is  over,  account  to  captain  and  crew 
rather  than  glitter  in  their  property,"  was  the  Idumean's 
answer,  with  a  glow  of  indignation  reddening  his  striking 
features. 

"By  the  bye,"  said  the  Arab,  in  whose  eye  the  gems 
flashed  temptingly,  "I  think  Memnon  is  always  under  a 
lucky  star.  We  come  home  in  rags,  but  he  regularly  re- 
turns the  better  for  his  trip :  Ptolemy  himself  has  not  a 
more  exquisite  tailor.  All  depends,  however,  upon  a 
man's  knowledge  of  navigation  in  this  world." 

"And  friend  Memnon  knows  every  point  of  it,  but  plain 
sailing,"  said  the  contemptuous  Idumean. 

The  Egyptian's  sallow  skin  grew  livid.  "I  may  be 
coward  or  liar  or  pilferer,"  exclaimed  he;  "but  if  I  were 
the  whole  three,  I  could  stand  no  chance  of  being  distin- 
guished in  the  present  company." 

"Insult  to  the  whole  profession,"  laughingly  exclaimed 
tho  Arab.  "And  now  I  insist,  in  the  general  name,  on 
your  giving  a  plain  account  of  the  proceeds  of  your  last 
cruise.  You  can  be  at  no  loss  for  it." 


BALATB1EL. 

"No,  for  he  has  it  by  his  side,  and  in  the  most  bril- 
liant arithmetic,"  said  Hanno,  a  satirical-vlsaged  son  of 
Carthage. 

"I  must  hear  no  more  on  the  subject,"  bitterly  pro- 
nounced the  Egyptian.  "Those  diamonds  belong  to  neither 
captain  nor  crew.  I  purchased  them  fairly ;  and  the  seller 
was,  I  will  undertake  to  say,  the  better  off  of  the  two." 

"Yes,  I  will  undertake  to  say,"  laughed  the  Idumean, 
"that  you  left  him  the  happiest  dog  in  existence.  It  is 
care  that  makes  man  miserable,  and  the  less  we  have  to  care 
for,  the  happier  we  are.  I  have  not  a  doubt  you  left  the 
fellow  at  the  summit  of  earthly  rapture !" 

"Ay!"  added  the  Arab,  "without  a  sorrow,  or  a  shekel, 
in  the  world." 

Boisterous  mirth  followed  the  Egyptian,  as  he  started 
from  his  couch  and  left  the  hall,  casting  fierce  looks  in 
his  retreat  like  Parthian  arrows  on  the  carousal.  The 
German  had,  in  the  meantime,  fallen  back  in  a  doze,  from 
which  he  was  disturbed  by  the  slave's  refilling  his  gob- 
let. 

"Ay,  that  tastes  like  wine,"  said  he,  glancing  at  the 
Greek,  who  had  by  no  means  forgotten  the  controversy. 

"Taste  what  it  may,  it  is  the  very  same  wine  that  you 
railed  at  half  an  hour  ago,"  returned  the  Chiote.  "The 
truth  is,  my  good  Vladomir,  that  the  wine  of  Greece  is 
like  its  language;  both  are  exquisite  and  unrivalled  to 
those  who  understand  them.  But  Nature  wisely  adapts 
tastes  to  men,  and  men  to  tastes.  I  am  not  at  all  sur- 
prised that  north  of  the  Danube  they  prefer  beer/' 

The  German  had  nothing  to  give  back  for  the  taunt 
but  the  frown  that  gathered  on  his  black  brow. 

The  Chiote  pursued  his  triumph,  and,  with  a  languid, 
lover-like  gaze  on  the  wine,  which  sparkled  in  purple 
radiance  to  the  brim  of  its  enamelled  cup,  he  apostrophized 
the  produce  of  his  fine  country.  "Delicious  grape !  Es- 
sence of  the  sunshine  and  of  the  dew !  What  vales  but 
the  vales  of  Chios  could  have  produced  thee?  What  tint 
of  heaven  is  brighter  than  thy  hue?  What  fragrance  of 
earth  richer  than  thy  perfume?" 

He  lightly  sipped  a  few  drops  from  the  edge,  like  a  li- 
bation to  the  deity  of  taste.  "Exquisite  draught !" 
breathed  he;  "unequalled  but  by  the  rosy  lip  and  melt- 


270  8ALATHIEL. 

ing  sigh  of  beauty!  Well  spoke  the  proverb,  'Chios, 
whose  wines  steal  every  head,  and  whose  women  every 
heart.'  * 

"You  forget  the  rest,"  gladly  interrupted  the  German: 
"  'and  whose  men  steal  everything/  "  A  general  laugh  fol- 
lowed the  retort,  such  as  it  was. 

"Scythian  I"  said  the  Greek,  across  the  table,  in  a  voice 
made  low  by  rage  and  preparing  to  strike. 

"Liar!"  roared  the  German,  sweeping  a  blow  of  his 
falchion,  which  the  Chiote  only  escaped  by  flinging  him- 
self on  the  ground.  The  blow  fell  on  the  table,  where  it 
caused  wide  devastation.  All  now  started  up;  swords 
were  out  on  every  side;  and  nothing  but  forcing  the  an- 
tagonists to  their  cells  prevented  the  last  perils  of  a  dif- 
ference of  palate. 

The  storm  bellowed  deeper  and  deeper.  "Here's  to  the 
luck  that  sent  us  back  before  this  northwester  thought  of 
stirring  abroad,"  said  the  Arab.  "I  wish  our  noble  cap- 
tain were  among  us  now.  Where  was  he  last  seen?" 

"Steering  westward,  off  and  on  Ehodes,  looking  out  for 
the  galley  that  carried  the  procurator's  plate.  But  this 
wind  must  send  him  in  before  morning,"  was  the  answer 
of  Hanno. 

"Or  send  him  to  the  bottom,  where  many  as  bold  a 
fellow  has  gone  before  him,"  whispered  a  tall,  haggard- 
looking  Italian  to  the  answerer. 

"That  would  be  good  news  for  one  of  us  at  least,"  said 
Hanno.  "You  would  have  no  reckoning  to  settle.  Your 
crew  made  a  handsome  affair  of  that  Alexandrian  prize; 
and  the  captain  might  be  looking  for  returns,  friend  Ter- 
tullus." 

"Then  let  him  look  to  himself.  His  time  may  be  near- 
er than  he  thinks.  His  haughtiness  to  men  as  good  as 
himself  may  provoke  justice  before  long,"  growled  the 
Italian,  in  memory  of  some  late  discipline.  Hanno  laughed 
loudly. 

"Justice !  is  the  man  mad  ?  The  very  sound  is  high 
treason  in  our  gallant  company.  Why,  comrade,  if  jus- 
tice ever  ventured  here,  where  would  some  of  us  have 
been  these  last  six  months?" 

The  sound  caught  the  general  ear;  the  allusion  was 
understood,  and  the  Italian  was  displeased. 


SALATHIEL.  271 

"1  hate  to  be  remarkable,"  said  he;  "with  the  honest  it 
may  be  proper  to  be  honest;  but  beside  you,  my  facetious 
Hanno,  a  man  should  cultivate  a  little  of  the  opposite 
school,  in  mere  compliment  to  his  friend.  You  had  no 
scruples  when  you  hanged  the  merchant  the  other  day." 

A  murmur  arose  in  the  hall. 

"Comrades,"  said  Hanno,  with  the  air  of  an  orator, 
"hear  me  too  on  that  subject;  three  words  will  settle  the 
question  to  men  of  sense.  The  merchant  was  a  regular 
trader.  Will  any  man  who  knows  the  world,  and  has 
brains  an  atom  clearer  than  those  with  which  fate  has 
gifted  my  virtuous  friend,  believe  that  I,  a  regular  liver 
by  the  merchant,  would  extinguish  that  by  which  I  live? 
Sensible  physicians  never  kill  a  patient  while  he  can 
pay;  sensible  kings  never  exterminate  a  province  when  it 
can  produce  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  tax;  sensible 
women  never  pray  for  the  extinction  of  our  sex  until  they 
despair  of  getting  husbands ;  sensible  husbands  never  wish 
their  wives  out  of  the  world  while  they  can  get  anything 
by  their  living:  so  sensible  men  of  our  profession  will 
never  put  a  merchant  under  water  until  they  can  make 
nothing  by  his  remaining  above  it.  I  have,  for  instance, 
raised  contributions  on  that  same  trader  every  summer 
these  five  years;  and,  by  the  blessing  of  fortune,  hope  to 
have  the  same  thing  to  say  for  five  times  as  many  years 
to  come.  No,  I  would  not  see  any  man  touch  a  hair  of 
his  head.  In  six  months  he  will  have  a  cargo  again,  and 
I  shall  meet  him  with  as  much  pleasure  as  ever."  The 
Carthaginian  was  highly  applauded. 

"Malek,  you  don't  drink,"  cried  the  Arab  to  a  gigantic 
Ethiopian  towards  the  end  of  the  table.  "Here,  I  pledge 
you  in  the  very  wine  that  was  marked  for  the  emperor's 
cellar." 

Malek  tasted  it  and  sent  back  a  cup  in  return. 

"The  emperor's  wine  may  be  good  enough  for  him," 
was  the  message;  "but  I  prefer  the  wine  yonder,  marked 
for  the  emperor's  butler." 

The  verdict  was  fully  in  favor  of  the  Ethiopian. 

"In  all  matters  of  this  kind,"  said  Malek,  with  an  air 
of  supreme  taste,  "I  look  first  to  the  stores  of  the  regular 
professors — the  science  of  life  is  in  the  masters  of  the 
kitchen  and  the  cellar.  Your  emperors  and  procurators, 


SALATHIEL. 

of  course,  must  be  content  with  what  they  can  get.  But 
the  man  who  wishes  to  have  the  first-rate  wine  should  be 
on  good  terms  with  the  butler.  I  caught  this  sample  on 
my  last  voyage  after  the  imperial  fleet.  Nero  never  had 
such  wine  on  his  table." 

He  indulged  himself  in  a  long  draught  of  this  exclusive 
luxury,  and  sank  on  his  couch  with  his  hand  clasping  the 
superbly-embossed  flagon — a  part  of  his  prize. 

"The  black  churl,"  said  a  little  shrivelled  Syrian,  "never 
shares:  he  keeps  his  wine  as  he  keeps  his  money." 

"Ay,  he  keeps  everything  but  his  character,"  whispered 
Hanno. 

"There  you  wrong  him,"  observed  the  Syrian ;  "no  man 
keeps  his  character  more  steadily.  By  Beelzebub !  it  is 
like  his  skin;  neither  will  be  blacker  the  longest  day  he 
has  to  live." 

A  roar  of  laughter  rose  round  the  hall. 

"Black  or  not  black,"  exclaimed  the  Ethiopian,  with  a 
sullen  grin  that  showed  his  teeth  like  the  fangs  of  a  wild 
beast,  "my  blood's  as  red  as  yours." 

"Possibly,"  retorted  the  little  Syrian;  "but  as  I  must 
take  your  word  on  the  subject  till  I  shall  have  seen  a  drop 
of  it  spilt  in  fair  fight,  I  only  hope  I  may  live  and  be 
happy  till  then ;  and  I  cannot  put  up  a  better  prayer  for  a 
merry  old  age." 

"There  is  no  chance  of  your  ever  seeing  it,"  growled 
the  Ethiopian;  "you  love  the  baggage  and  the  hold  too 
well  to  leave  them  to  accident,  be  the  fight  fair  or  foul." 

The  laugh  was  easily  raised,  and  it  was  turned  against 
the  Syrian,  who  started  up  and  declaimed  with  a  fury  of 
gesture  that  made  the  ridicule  still  louder. 

"I  appeal  to  all,"  cried  the  fiery  orator;  "I  appeal  to 
every  man  of  honor  among  us,  whether  by  night  or  day, 
on  land  or  water,  I  have  ever  been  backward." 

"Never  at  an  escape,"  interrupted  the  Ethiopian. 

"Whether  I  have  ever  broken  faith  with  the  band?" 

"Likely  enough ;  where  nobody  trusts,  we  mav  defy  trea- 
son." 

"Whether  my  character  and  services  are  not  known  and 
valued  by  our  captain?"  still  louder  exclaimed  the  irri- 
tated Syrian. 
"Ay,  just  as  little  as  they  deserve." 


8ALATH1EL. 

"Silence,  brute!"  screamed  the  diminutive  adversary, 
casting  his  keen  eyes,  that  doubly  blazed  with  rage,  on 
the  Ethiopian,  who  still  lay  embracing  the  flagon  at  his 
ease.  "With  heroes  of  your  complexion  I  disdain  all  con- 
test. If  I  must  fight,  it  shall  be  with  human  beings;  not 
with  savages — not  with  monsters." 

The  Ethiopian's  black  cheek  absolutely  grew  red :  this 
taunt  was  the  sting.  At  one  prodigious  bound  he  sprang 
across  the  table,  and  darted  upon  the  Syrian's  throat  with 
the  roar  and  the  fury  of  a  tiger.  All  was  instant  con- 
fusion: lamps,  flagons,  fruits  were  trampled  on;  the 
table  was  overthrown ;  swords  and  poniards  flashed  in  all 
hands.  The  little  Syrian  yelled,  strangling  in  the  grasp 
of  the  black  giant;  and  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty 
that  he  could  be  rescued.  The  Arab,  a  fine  athletic  fel- 
low, achieved  this  object  and  bade  him  run  for  his  life;  a 
command  with  which  he  complied  unhesitatingly,  fol- 
lowed by  a  cheer  from  Hanno,  who  swore  that  if  all 
trades  failed  he  would  make  his  fortune  by  his  heels  at 
the  Olympic  games. 

Our  share  of  the  scene  was  come.  The  fugitive,  nat- 
urally bold  enough,  but  startled  by  the  savage  ferocity  of 
his  antagonist,  made  his  way  towards  our  place  of  refuge. 
The  black  got  loose  and  pursued.  I  disdained  to  be 
dragged  forth  as  a  lurking  culprit,  and,  flinging  open 
the  door,  stood  before  the  crowd.  The  effect  was  marvel- 
lous. The  tumult  was  hushed  at  once.  Our  haggard 
forms,  seen  by  that  half  intoxication  which  bewilders  the 
brain  before  it  enfeebles  the  senses,  were  completely  fitted 
to  startle  the  superstition  that  lurks  in  the  bosom  of  every 
son  of  the  sea;  and,  for  the  moment,  they  evidently  took 
us  for  something  better,  or  worse,  than  man. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

BUT  the  delusion  was  short-lived;  my  voice  broke  the 
spell;  and  perhaps  the  consciousness  of  their  idle  alarm 
increased  their  rage.  "Spies"  was  then  the  outcry;  and 
this  dread  sound  brought  from  beds  and  tables  the  whole 
band.  It  was  in  vain  that  I  attempted  to  speak ;  the  mob 
have  no  ears,  whether  in  cities  or  caves;  and  we  were 


274  SALATHIEL. 

dragged  forward  to  undergo  our  examination.  Yet,  what 
was  to  be  done  in  the  midst  of  a  host  of  tongues,  all  ques- 
tioning, accusing,  and  swearing  together?  Some  were 
ready  to  take  every  star  of  heaven  to  witness  that  we  were 
a  pair  of  Paphlagonian  pilots,  and  the  identical  ones  hired 
to  run  two  of  their  ships  aground,  by  which  the  best  ex- 
pedition of  the  year  was  undone.  Others  knew  us  to  have 
been  in  the  regular  pay  of  the  procurator,  and  the  means 
of  betraying  their  last  captain  to  the  axe.  But  the  ma- 
jority honored  us  with  the  character  of  simple  thieves, 
who  had  taken  advantage  of  their  absence  to  plunder  the 
baggage. 

The  question  next  arose — "how  we  could  have  got  in?" 
and  for  the  first  time  the  carousers  thought  of  their  senti- 
nel. I  told  them  what  I  had  seen.  They  poured  into  his 
chamber,  and  their  suspicions  were  fixed,  in  inexorable  re- 
ality— "We  had  murdered  him."  The  speediest  death  for 
us  was  now  the  only  consideration.  Every  man  had  his 
proposal;  and  never  were  more  curious  varieties  of  escape 
from  this  evil  world  offered  to  two  wretches  already  weary 
of  it;  but  the  Arab's  voice  carried  the  point.  "He  dis- 
liked seeing  men  tossed  into  the  fire ;  ropes  were  too  useful, 
and  the  sword  was  too  honorable  to  be  employed  on  rogues. 
But  as  by  water  we  came,  by  water  we  should  go."  The 
sentence  was  received  with  a  shout;  and  amid  laughter, 
furious  cries,  and  threats  of  vengeance,  we  were  dragged  to 
the  mouth  of  the  cave. 

There  was  a  new  scene!  The  tempest  was  appalling. 
The  waves  burst  into  the  anchorage  in  huge  heaps,  dash- 
ing sheets  of  foam  up  to  its  roof.  The  wind  volleyed  in 
gusts,  that  took  the  strongest  off  their  feet ;  the  galleys  at 
anchor  were  tossed  as  if  they  were  so  many  weeds  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Lamps  and  torches  were  useless; 
and  the  only  light  was  from  the  funereal  gleam  of  the 
billows,  and  the  sheets  of  sulphurous  fire  that  fell  upon  the 
turbulence  of  ocean  beyond.  Even  the  hardy  forms  round 
me  were  startled,  and  I  took  advantage  of  a  furious  gust 
that  swung  us  all  aside,  to  struggle  from  their  grasp,  and 
seizing  a  pike,  fight  for  my  life.  Jubal  seconded  me  with 
the  boldness  that  no  decay  could  exhaust;  and  setting  our 
backs  to  the  rock,  we  for  awhile  baffled  our  executioners. 
But  this  could  not  last  against  such  numbers.  Our  pikes 


BALATHIEL. 

Were  broken ;  we  were  hemmed  in,  and  finally  dragged  again 
to  the  mouth  of  the  cavern,  that  with  its  foam  and  the 
howl  of  the  tumbling  billows  looked  like  the  jaws  of  some 
huge  monster  ready  for  its  prey. 

Bruised  and  overpowered,  I  was  on  the  point  of  deny- 
ing my  murderers  their  last  indulgence,  and  plunging  head- 
lo^ng,  when  a  trumpet  sounded.  The  pirates  loosed  their 
hold,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  large  galley  with  all  her  oars 
broken,  and  every  sail  torn  to  fragments,  shot  by  the  mouth 
of  the  cavern.  A  joyous  cry  of  "The  captain  !  the  captain  !" 
echoed  through  the  vaults.  The  galley,  disabled  by  the 
storm,  tacked  several  times  before  she  could  make  the 
entrance;  but  at  length,  by  a  masterly  manoeuvre,  she  was 
brought  round,  and  darted  right  in  on  the  top  of  a  moun- 
tainous billow.  Before  she  touched  the  ground,  the  cap- 
tain had  leaped  into  the  arms  of  the  band,  who  received 
him  with  shouts.  His  quick  eye  fell  upon  us  at  once,  and 
he  demanded  fiercely  what  we  were.  "Spies  and  thieves," 
was  the  general  reply.  "Spies !"  he  repeated,  looking  con- 
temptuously at  our  habiliments — "impossible.  Thieves, 
very  likely,  and  very  beggarly  ones." 

I  denied  both  imputations  alike.  He  seemed  struck  with 
my  words,  and  said  to  the  crowd,  "Folly  !  Take  them  away, 
if  it  does  not  require  too  much  courage  to  touch  them ; 
and  let  them  be  washed  and  fed  for  the  honor  of  hospital- 
ity and  their  own  faces.  Here,  change  my  clothes,  and 
order  supper." 

I  attempted  to  explain  how  we  came. 

"Of  course — of  course,"  said  the  captain,  pulling  off  his 
dripping  garments,  and  flinging  his  cloak  to  one,  his  cuirass 
to  another,  and  his  cap  to  a  third.  "Your  rags  would 
vouch  for  you  in  any  port  on  earth.  Or,  if  you  carry  on 
the  trade  of  treachery,  you  are  very  ill  paid.  Why,  Mem- 
Lon,  look  at  these  fellows ;  would  you  give  a  shekel  for 
their  souls  and  bodies?  Not  a  mite.  When  I  look  for 
spies,  I  expect  to  find  them  among  the  prosperous.  How- 
ever, if  you  turn  out  to  be  spies,  eat,  drink,  and  sleep  your 
best  to-night,  for  you  shall  be  hanged  to-morrow." 

He  hurried  onwards,  and  we  followed,  still  in  durance. 
The  banquet  was  reinstated,  and  the  principal  personages 
of  the  band  gathered  round,  to  hear  the  adventures  of  the 
voyage.  "All  has  been  ill  luck/'  said  he,  tossing  off  a 


&ALATB1EL. 

bumper.  "The  old  procurator's  spirit  was,  I  think,  abroad, 
either  to  take  care  of  his  plate,  or  to  torment  mankind, 
according  to  his  custom.  We  were  within  a  boat's  length 
of  the  prize,  when  the  wind  came  right  in  our  teeth. 
Everything  that  could,  ran  for  the  harbor;  some  went  on 
the  rocks,  some  straight  to  the  bottom ;  and  that  we  might 
not  follow  their  example,  I  put  the  good  ship  before  the 
wind,  and  never  was  better  pleased  than  to  find  myself 
at  home.  Thus  you  see,  comrades,  that  my  history  is  brief ; 
but  then  it  has  an  advantage  that  history  sometimes  denies 
itself — every  syllable  of  it  is  true." 

As  the  light  of  the  lamps  fell  on  him,  it  struck  me  that 
his  face  was  familiar  to  my  recollection.  He  was  young, 
but  the  habits  of  his  life  had  given  him  a  premature  man- 
hood ;  his  eye  flashed  and  sparkled  with  Eastern  brilliancy, 
but  his  cheek,  after  the  first  flush  of  the  banquet,  was  pale ; 
and  the  thinness  of  a  physiognomy  naturally  masculine 
and  noble,  showed  that  either  care  or  hardship  had  lain 
heavily  upon  his  days.  He  had  scarcely  sat  down  to  the 
table,  when,  his  glance  turning  where  we  stood  guarded, 
he  ordered  us  to  be  brought  before  him. 

"I  think,"  said  he,  "you  came  here  but  a  day  or  two  ago. 
Did  you  find  no  difficulty  with  our  sentinels?" 

"Ha !"  exclaimed  the  Arab,  "how  could  I  have  forgotten 
that?  I  left  Titus,  or  by  whatever  of  his  hundred  names 
he  chose  to  be  called,  on  guard,  at  his  own  request,  the  day 
I  steered  for  the  Nile.  He  was  sick,  or  protended  to  be 
so;  and  as  I  gave  myself  but  a  couple  of  days  for  the 
voyage,  I  expected  to  be  back  in  time  to  save  him  from  the 
horrors  of  his  own  company.  But  the  wind  said  otherwise 
— the  two  days  were  ten ;  and  on  my  return  we  found  the 
wretched  fellow  a  corpse — whether  from  being  taken  ill, 
and  unable  to  help  himself,  or  from  the  assistance  of  those 
worthy  persons  here,  whom  we  discovered  in  attendance." 

"On  that  subject  I  have  no  doubt  whatever,"  inter- 
posed the  Egyptian ;  "those  villains  murdered  him." 

The  crowd  pressed  closer  upon  us,  and  I  saw  the  dagger 
pointed  at  my  breast,  when  I  recollected  the  letter.  I  gave 
it  to  the  captain,  who  read  it  in  silence,  and  then,  with 
the  utmost  composure,  desired  it  to  be  handed  over  to  the 
Egyptian.  "Comrade?."  paid  he,  "I  have  to  apologize  for  a 
breach  of  the  confidence  that  should  always  subsist  between 


SALATHIEL.  277 

men  of  honor.  I  have  here  accidentally  read  a  letter  which 
the  cipher  shows  to  have  been  intended  for  our  trusty  friend 
Memnon;  but  since  the  subject  is  no  longer  confined  to 
himself,  he  will  doubtless  feel  no  objection  to  indulging 
us  all  with  the  correspondence." 

The  band  thronged  round  the  table;  expectation  sat  on 
every  face,  and  its  various  expression  in  the  crowded  circle 
of  those  strong  physiognomies — the  keen,  the  wondering, 
the  angry,  the  contemptuous,  the  convinced,  the  triumphant 
— would  have  made  an  incomparable  study  for  a  painter. 
The  Egyptian  took  the  letter  with  a  trembling  hand,  and 
read  the  fatal  words. 

"The  fleet  will  be  off  the  northern  promontory  by  mid- 
night. You  will  light  a  signal  and  be  ready  to  conduct 
the  troops  into  the  cavern." 

The  reader  let  the  fatal  despatch  fall  from  his  hands. 

"Come,"  said  the  captain,  rising,  "as  we  are  not  likely 
to  gain  much  information  from  the  living,  let  us  see 
whether  the  dead  can  give  us  any:  lead  on,  prisoners." 

I  led  the  way  to  the  recess.  The  dead  man  lay  un- 
touched ;  but  in  the  interval,  the  features  had  returned,  as 
is  often  the  case  in  death,  to  the  expression  of  former 
years.  I  uttered  an  exclamation ;  he  was  the  domestic  who 
had  betrayed  me  to  the  procurator. 

"Conscience !"  cried  the  Egyptian. 

"Conscience !"  echoed  the  crowd. 

The  captain  turned  to  me.  "Did  either  you  or  your 
companion  commit  this  murder?  I  will  have  no  long 
stories.  I  know  that  this  fellow  was  a  villain,  and  if  he 
had  lived  until  my  return,  he  should  have  fed  the  crows 
within  the  next  twelve  hours.  One  word — yes  or  no." 

I  answered  firmly. 

"I  believe  you,"  said  the  captain.  He  took  the  hand  of 
the  corpse,  and  called  to  the  Egyptian.  "Take  this  hand, 
and  swear  that  you  know  nothing  of  the  treason.  But,  ba ! 
what  have  we  here?"  As  he  lifted  the  arm,  the  sleeve  of 
the  tunic  gave  way,  and  a  slip  of  papyrus  fell  on  the  bed. 
He  caught  it  up,  and  exclaiming,  "What !  to-night  ?  per- 
nicious villain !"  turned  to  the  astonished  band. 

"Comrades,  there  is  treachery  among  us.  We  are  sold 
— sold  by  that  accursed  Egyptian.  Strip  the  slave,  and 
fling  him  into  the  dungeon  until  I  return ;  no,  he  shall 


278  SALATHIEL. 

come  with  us  in  chains.  Call  up  the  men.  Every  galley 
must  put  to  sea  instantly,  if  we  would  not  be  burned  in 
our  beds." 

The  trumpet  sounded  through  the  cavern,  and  rapid 
preparations  were  made  for  obeying  this  unexpected  com- 
mand. The  fires  blazed  again ;  arms  and  armor  rang ;  men 
were  mustered;  and  the  galleys  swung  out  from  their 
moorings,  in  the  midst  of  tumult  and  volleys  of  execrations 
against  the  treachery  that  "could  not  wait,  at  least,  for 
daylight  and  fair  weather." 

"And  now,"  said  the  captain,  "I  think  that  it  is  time  for 
me  to  sup.  Sit  down,  and  let  us  hear  over  our  wine  what 
story  the  prisoners  have  to  tell." 

I  briefly  stated  our  escape  from  the  dungeon. 

"It  may  be  a  lie ;  yet  the  thing  hangs  not  badly  together. 
Your  wardrobe  speaks  prodigiously  in  favor  of  your  verac- 
ity. Ho,  Ben  Ali!  see  that  the  avenue  into  the  ware- 
house is  stopped  up.  We  must  have  no  visits  from  the 
garrison  of  the  tower." 

He  had  soon  a  group  of  listeners  round  the  table.  "As 
I  was  lying  off  and  on,  waiting  to  catch  that  galley,  a  cor- 
respondent on  shore  let  me  partly  into  the  secret  of  that 
Egyptian  dog's  dealings.  Eich  as  the  knave  was — and  how 
he  came  by  his  money  Tartarus  only  knows — Roman  gold 
had  charms  for  him  still.  In  fact,  he  had  been  carrying 
on  a  very  handsome  trade  in  information  during  the  last 
six  months,  which  may  best  account  for  the  escape  of  two 
fleets  from  Byzantium,  and  not  less  for  the  present  safety 
of  the  procurator's  plate,  which,  however,  I  hope,  by  the 
blessing  of  Neptune,  to  see,  before  another  week,  shining 
upon  this  table."  Then  turning  to  me,  he  laughingly  said, 
"Though  I  should  not  trust  you  for  pilotage,  your  dis- 
covery was  of  use.  That  an  attack  upon  us  was  intended  I 
was  aware ;  but  the  how,  and  the  when,  were  the  difficulty. 
The  time  of  the  attack  was  announced  in  the  papyrus,  and 
but  for  the  storm  we  should  probably  be  now  doing  other 
things  than  supping." 

"The  sea  is  going  down  already,  and  the  wind  has 
changed,"  said  the  Arab.  "We  can  haul  off  the  shore  with-, 
out  loss  of  time." 

"Then  the  sooner  the  better.  We  must  seal  up  the 
Romans  in  their  port;  or,  if  they  venture  out  ou  such  a 


SALATHIEL.  279 

night,  give  them  sound  reason  for  wishing  that  they  had 
stayed  at  home.  Their  galleys,  if  good  for  nothing  else, 
will  do  to  burn." 

This  bold  determination  was  received  with  a  general 
cheer:  the  crews  drank  to  the  glory  of  their  expedition; 
and  all  rushed  towards  the  galleys,  which,  crowded  with 
men,  lay  tossing  at  the  edge  of  the  arch. 

I  followed,  and  demanded  what  was  to  be  our  fate. 

'"What  will  you  have?" 

"Anything  but  abandonment  here.  Let  us  take  the 
'chances  of  your  voyage,  and  be  set  on  shore  at  the  first 
place  you  touch." 

"And  sell  our  secret  to  the  best  bidder?  No.  But  I 
have  no  time  to  make  terms  with  you  now.  One  word  for 
all :  ragged  as  you  both  are,  you  are  strong,  and  your  faces 
would  do  no  great  discredit  to  our  profession.  You  prob- 
ably think  this  no  very  striking  compliment,"  said  he, 
laughing.  "However,  I  have  taken  a  whim  to  have  you 
with  us,  and  offer  you  promotion.  Will  you  take  service 
with  the  noble  company  of  the  Free-trade?" 

Jubal  was  rashly  indignant;  I  checked  him,  and  merely 
answered  that  I  had  purposes  of  extreme  exigency  which 
prevented  my  accepting  his  offer. 

"Ha,  morality !"  exclaimed  he,  "you  will  not  be  seen 
with  rogues  like  us?"  He  laughed  aloud.  "Why,  man, 
if  you  will  not  live,  eat,  drink,  travel,  and  die  with  rogues, 
where  upon  earth  can  you  expect  to  live  or  die  ?  The  differ- 
ence between  us  and  the  world  is  that  we  do  the  thing  with- 
out the  additional  vice  of  hypocrisy." 

The  bold  fellows  who  waited  round  us  felt  for  the  honor 
of  their  calling,  and  but  for  their  awe  of  the  captain,  we 
stood  but  slight  chance  of  escape. 

"A  pike  might  let  a  little  light  into  their  understand- 
ings," said  one. 

"If  they  would  not  follow  on  the  deck,  they  should  swim 
at  the  stern,"  said  another. 

"The  hermits  should  be  sent  back  to  their  dungeon," 
.said  a  third. 

The  boat  was  now  run  up  on  the  sand.  "Get  in,"  said 
the  captain.  "I  have  taken  it  into  my  head  to  convince 
you  by  fact  of  the  honor,  dignity  and  primitiveness  of  our 
profession,  which  is;  in  the  first  place,  the  oldest,  for  it  was 


280  SALATHIEL. 

the  original  employment  of  all  human  hands;  in  the  next 
place,  the  most  universal,  for  it  is  the  principle  of  all  trades, 
pursuits  and  professions,  from  the  emperor  on  his  throne, 
down  through  the  doctor,  the  lawyer,  and  the  merchant,  to 
the  very  sediment  of  society." 

A  "loud  laugh  echoed  through  the  cavern. 

While  he  was  arranging  his  corslet  and  weapons  round 
him,  the  captain  proceeded :  "The  Free-trade  is  the  essence 
of  the  virtues.  For  example,  I  meet  a  merchantman  loaded 
with  goods — for  what  is  the  cargo  meant!  To  purchase 
slaves ;  to  tear  fathers  from  their  families — husbands  from 
their  wives ;  to  burn  villages,  and  bribe  savages  to  murder 
each  other.  I  strip  the  hold ;  the  slave-market  is  at  an  end ; 
and  none  suffer  but  fellows  who  ought  to  have  been  hanged 
long  ago." 

The  captain's  doctrine  was  more  popular  than  ever. 

"I  meet  a  rich  old  rogue,"  continued  he,  "on  his  voyage 
between  the  islands.  What  is  he  going  to  do?  To  marry 
some  young  creature,  who  has  a  young  lover,  perhaps  a 
dozen.  The  marriage  would  break  her  heart,  and  raise  a 
little  rebellion  in  the  island.  We  capture  the  old  Cupid, 
strip  him  of  his  coin,  and  he  is  a  Cupid  no  more;  fathers 
and  mothers  abhor  him  at  once;  the  young  lover  has  his 
bride,  and  the  old  one  his  lesson :  the  one  gets  his  love  and 
the  other  his  experience ;  and  both  have  to  thank  the  gallant 
crew  of  the  Scorpion,  which  may  Neptune  long  keep  above 
water." 

A  joyous  shout  and  the  waving  of  caps  and  swords  hailed 
the  captain's  display.  "The  Free-trade  for  ever!"  was 
cheered  in  all  directions. 

"And  now,  my  heroes  of  salt  water,  noble  brothers  of 
the  Nereids,  sons  of  the  starlight,  here  I  make  libation  to 
fortune."  He  poured  a  part  of  his  cup  into  the  wave,  and 
drank  to  the  general  health  with  the  remainder. 

"Happiness  to  all !  Let  our  work  to-night  be  what  it  will, 
I  know,  my  heroes,  that  it  will  be  handsomely  done.  The 
enemy  may  call  us  names;  but  you  will  answer  them  by 
proofs  that,  whatever  we  may  be,  we  are  neither  slaves  nor 
dastards.  If  I  catch  the  insolent  commander  of  the  Koman 
fleet,  I  will  teach  him  a  lesson  in  morals  that  he  never  knew 
before.  He  shall  flog,  fleece  and  torture  no  more.  I  will 
turn  the  hard-hearted  tyrant  into  tenderness  from  top  to 


8ALATHIEL.  281 

toe.  His  treatment  of  the  crew  of  the  Hycena  was  infa- 
mous ;  and,  by  Jupiter !  what  I  owe  him  shall  be  discharged 
in  full.  Now,  on  board,  and  may  Neptune  take  care  of 
you !" 

The  trumpets  flourished,  the  people  cheered,  the  boats 
pushed  off,  the  galleys  hoisted  every  sail,  and  in  a  moment 
we  found  ourselves  rushing  through  the  water  under  the 
wildest  canopy  of  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

WE  stretched  out  far  to  sea,  for  the  double  purpose  of 
falling  by  surprise  upon  the  Roman  squadron  and  avoiding 
the  shoals.  The  wind  lulled  at  intervals  so  much,  that  we 
had  recourse  to  our  oars ;  it  would  then  burst  down  with  a 
violence  that  all  but  hurled  us  out  of  the  water.  I  now  saw 
more  of  the  captain,  and  was  witness  to  the  extraordinary 
activity  and  skill  of  this  singular  young  man.  Never  was 
there  a  more  expert  seaman.  For  every  change  of  sea  or 
wind  he  had  a  new  expedient;  and  when  the  hearts  of  the 
stoutest  sank,  he  took  the  helm  into  his  hands,  and  carried 
us  through  the  chaos  of  foam,  whirlwind,  and  lightning, 
with  the  vigor  of  one  born  to  sport  with  the  storm. 

As  I  was  gazing  over  the  vessel's  side,  at  the  phosphoric 
gleams  that  danced  along  the  billows,  he  came  up  to  me. 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "that  we  have  been  compelled  to 
give  you  so  rough  a  specimen  of  our  hospitality ;  and  this  is 
not  altogether  a  summer  sea ;  but  you  saw  how  the  matter 
stood.  The  enemy  now  would  have  been  upon  us;  and  the 
whole  advantage  of  our  staying  at  home  would  be  to  have 
our  throats  cut  in  company." 

Odd  and  rambling  as  his  style  was,  there  was  something 
in  his  manner  and  voice  that  had  struck  me  before,  even  in 
the  boisterousness  of  the  convivial  crowd.  But  now,  in  the 
solitary  sea,  there  was  a  melancholy  sweetness  in  his  tones, 
that  made  me  start  with  sad  recollection.  Yet,  when  by  the 
lightning  I  attempted  to  discover  in  his  features  any  clue  to 
memory,  and  saw  but  the  tall  figure  wrapped  in  the  sailor's 
cloak,  the  hair  streaming  over  his  face  in  the  spray,  and 
every  line  of  his  powerful  physiognomy  at  its  full  stretch  in 
the  agitation  of  the  time,  the  thought  vanished  again. 


282  SALATHIEL. 

"I  hinted,"  said  he,  after  an  interval  of  silence,  "at  your 
taking  chance  with  us.  If  you  will,  you  may.  But  the 
hint  was  thrown  out  merely  to  draw  off  the  fellows  about 
me;  and  you  are  at  full  liberty  to  forget  it." 

"It  is  impossible  to  join  you,"  was  my  answer;  "my  life 
is  due  to  my  country." 

"Oh !  for  that  matter,  so  is  mine,  and  due  a  long  time 
ago;  my  only  wonder  is,  how  I  have  evaded  payment  till 
now.  .But  I  am  a  man  of  few  words.  I  have  taken  a  sort 
of  liking  to  you,  and  would  wish  to  have  a  few  such  at  hand. 
The  world  calls  me  pirate,  and  the  majority,  of  course, 
carries  the  question.  For  its  opinion  I  do  not  care  a  cup 
of  water:  a  bubble  would  weigh  as  heavy  with  me  as  the 
rambling,  giddy,  vulgar  judgment  of  a  world,  in  which  the 
first  of  talents  is  knavery.  I  never  knew  a  man  fail  who 
brought  to  market  prostitution  of  mind  enough  to  make 
him  a  tool;  vice  enough  to  despise  everything  but  gain: 
and  cunning  enough  to  keep  himself  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
magistrate,  till  opulence  enabled  him  to  corrupt  the  law, 
or  authority  to  defy  it.  But  let  that  pass.  The  point  be- 
tween us  is,  will  you  take  service  with  us?" 

"No  I — I  feel  the  strongest  gratitude  for  the  manliness 
and  the  generosity  of  your  protection.  You  saved  our 
lives,  and  our  only  hope  of  revisiting  Judea  in  freedom  is 
through  you.  But,  young  man,  I  have  a  great  cause  in 
hand.  I  have  risked  everything  for  it.  Family,  wealth, 
rank,  life,  are  my  stake ;  and  I  look  upon  every  hour  given 
to  other  things,  as  so  far  a  fraud  upon  my  country." 

I  heard  him  sigh.  There  was  silence  on  both  sides  for 
a  while,  and  he  paced  the  deck;  then  suddenly  returning, 
laid  his  hand  on  my  shoulder.  "I  am  convinced  of  your 
honor,"  said  he,  "and  far  be  it  from  me  to  betray  a  man 
who  has  indeed  a  purpose  worthy  of  manhood,  into  our 
broken  and  unhappy — ay,  let  the  word  come  out,  infamous 
career.  But  you  tell  me  that  I  have  been  of  some  use  to 
you ;  I  now  demand  the  return.  You  have  refused  to  take 
service  with  me.  Let  me  take  service  with  you !" 

I  stared  at  him.  He  smiled  sadly  and  said,  "You  will  not 
associate  with  one  stained  like  me.  Ay,  for  me,  there  is  no 
repentance !  Yet,  why  shall  the  world" — and  his  voice  was 
full  of  anguish — "why  shall  an  ungenerous  and  misjudging 
world  be  suffered  to  keep  forever  at  a  distance  those  whom 


SAL  AT  HI  EL.  283 

ii  has  first  betrayed  ?"  His  emotion  got  the  better  of  him, 
and  his  voice  sank.  He  again  approached  me.  "I  am 
weary  of  this  kind  of  life.  Not  that  I  have  reason  to  com- 
plain of  the  men  about  me,  nor  that  I  dislike  the  chances 
of  the  sea ;  but,  that  I  feel  the  desire  to  be  something  better 
— to  redeem  myself  out  of  the  number  of  the  dishonored; 
to  do  something  which,  whether  I  live  or  die,  will  satisfy 
me  that  I  was  not  meant  to  be — the  outcast  that  I  am." 

"Then  join  us,  if  you  will,"  said  I.  "Our  cause  demands 
the  bold;  and  the  noblest  spirit  that  ever  dwelt  in  man 
would  find  its  finest  field  in  the  deliverance  of  our  land,  the 
land  of  holiness  and  glory.  But  can  you  leave  all  that  you 
have  round  you  here?" 

"Not  without  a  struggle.  I  have  an  infinite  delight  in 
this  wild  kind  of  existence.  I  love  the  strong  excitement 
of  hazard ;  I  love  the  perpetual  bustle  of  our  career ;  I  love 
even  the  capriciousness  of  wind  and  wave.  I  have  wealth 
in  return  for  its  perils:  and  no  man  knows  what  enjoyment 
is,  but  he  who  knows  it  through  the  fatigue  of  a  sailor's 
life.  All  the  banquets  of  epicurism  are  not  ?ialf  so  deli- 
cious, as  even  the  simplest  meal,  to  his  hunger;  nor  the 
softest  bed  of  luxury  half  so  refreshing  as  the  bare  deck, 
tc  his  weariness.  But  I  must  break  up  those  habits;  and, 
whether  beggar  and  slave,  or  soldier,  and  obtaining  the 
distinction  of  a  soldier's  success,  I  am  determined  on  try- 
ing my  chance  among  mankind." 

A  sheet  of  lightning  at  this  instant  covered  the  whole 
horizon  with  blue  flame ;  and  a  huge  ball  of  fire  springing 
from  the  cloud,  after  a  long  flight  over  the  waters,  split 
upon  the  Shore.  The  keenness  of  the  seaman's  eye  saw  what 
had  escaped  mine.  "That  was  a  lucky  sea-light  for  us," 
said  he.  "The  Eomans  are  lying  under  yonder  promon- 
tory; driven  to  take  shelter  by  the  gale,  of  course;  but  for 
that  fire-ball  they  would  have  escaped  me." 

All  the  crew  were  now  summoned  on  deck;  signals  were 
made  to  the  other  galleys ;  the  little  fleet  brought  into  close 
order ;  pikes,  torches,  and  combustibles  of  all  kinds  gath- 
ered upon  the  poop ;  the  sails  furled,  and  with  muffled  oar? 
we  glided  down  upon  the  enemy.  The  Roman  squadron, 
with  that  precaution  which  was  the  essential  of  their  match- 
less discipline,  were  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle,  though 
they  could  have  had  no  expectation  of  being  attacked  on 


284  BALATHIEL. 

such  a  night.  But  the  roar  of  the  gale  buried  every  other 
sound,  and  we  stole  round  the  promontory  unheard. 

The  short  period  of  this  silent  navigation  was  one  of 
the  keenest  anxiety.  All  but  those  necessary  for  the  work- 
ing of  the  vessel  were  lying  on  their  faces;  not  a  limb  was 
moved,  and,  like  a  galley  of  the  dead,  we  floated  on,  filled 
with  destruction.  We  were  yet  at  some  distance  from  the 
twinkling  lights  that  showed  the  prefect's  trireme;  when, 
on  glancing  round,  I  perceived  a  dark  object  on  the 
water,  and  pointed  it  out  to  the  captain. 

"Some  lurking  spy,"  said  he,  "who  was  born  to  pay  for 
his  knowledge."  With  a  sailor's  promptitude  he  caught  up 
a  lamp  and  swung  it  overboard.  It  fell  beside  the  object, 
a  small  boat,  as  black  as  the  waves  themselves. 

"Now  for  the  sentinel,"  were  his  words,  as  he  plunged 
into  the  sea.  The  act  was  as  rapid  as  the  words.  I  heard 
a  struggle,  a  groan,  and  the  boat  floated  empty  beside  me 
on  the  next  billow. 

But  there  was  no  time  to  wait  for  his  return.  We  were 
within  an  oar's  length  of  the  anchorage.  To  communicate 
the  probable  loss  of  their  captain  (and  what  could  human 
struggle  do  among  the  mountainous  waves  of  that  sea?) 
might  be  to  dispirit  the  crew  and  ruin  the  enterprise.  I 
took  the  command  upon  myself,  and  gave  the  word  to  fall 
on.  A  storm  of  fire,  as  strange  to  the  enemy  as  if  it  had 
risen  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  was  instantly  poured  on 
the  advanced  ships.  The  surprise  was  complete.  The 
crews,  exhausted  by  the  night,  were  chiefly  asleep.  The 
troops  on  board  were  helpless,  on  decks  covered  with  spray, 
and  among  shrouds  and  sails  falling  down  in  burning 
fragments  on  their  heads.  Our  shouts  gave  them  the  idea 
of  being  attacked  by  overwhelming  numbers;  and,  after  a 
short  dispute,  we  cleared  the  whole  outer  line  of  every 
sailor  and  soldier.  The  whole  were  soon  a  pile  of  flame, 
a  sea  volcano,  that  lighted  sky,  sea,  and  shore. 

Yet  only  half  our  work  was  done.  The  enemy  were  now 
fully  awake,  and  no  man  could  despise  Roman  preparation. 
I  ordered  a  fire-galley  to  run  in  between  the  leading  ships; 
but  she  was  caught  half-way  by  a  chain,  and  turned  round, 
scattering  flame  among  ourselves.  The  boats  were  then 
lowered,  and  our  most  desperate  fellows  sent  to  cut  out,  or 
board.  But  the  crowded  decks  drove  them  back?  and  the 


BALA.TUIEL.  285 

Roman  pike  was  an  overmatch  for  our  short  falchions. 
For  a  while  we  were  forced  to  content  ourselves  with  the 
distant  exchange  of  lances  and  arrows.  The  affair  now 
hecame  critical.  The  enemy  were  still  three  times  our 
force;  they  were  unmooring;  and  our  only  chance  of  de- 
stroying them  was  at  anchor.  I  called  the  crew  forward 
and  proposed  that  we  should  run  the  galley  close  on  the 
prefect's  ship,  set  them  both  on  fire,  and,  in  the  confusion, 
carry  the  remaining  vessels.  But  sailors,  if  as  bold,  are  as 
capricious  as  their  element.  Our  partial  repulse  had  al- 
ready disheartened  them.  I  was  met  by  clamors  for  the 
captain.  The  clamors  rose  into  open  charges  that  I  had, 
to  get  the  command,  thrown  him  overboard. 

I  was  alone.  Jubal,  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  illness, 
was  lying  at  my  feet,  more  requiring  defence  than  able  to 
afford  it.  The  crowd  were  growing  furious  against  the 
stranger.  I  felt  that  all  depended  on  the  moment,  and 
leaped  from  the  poop  into  the  midst  of  the  mutineers. 

"Fools,"  I  exclaimed,  "what  could  I  get  by  making  away 
with  your  captain  ?  I  have  no  wish  for  your  command.  I 
have  no  want  of  your  help.  I  disdain  you  i — bold  as  lions, 
over  the  table;  tame  as  sheep  on  the  deck;  I  leave  you  to 
be  butchered  by  the  Romans.  Let  the  brave  follow  me,  if 
such  there  be  among  you." 

A  shallop  that  had  just  returned  with  the  defeated 
boarders,  lay  by  the  galley's  side.  I  seized  a  torch.  Eight 
or  ten,  roused  by  my  taunts,  followed  me  into  the  boat. 
We  pulled  right  for  the  Roman  centre.  Every  man  had  a 
torch  in  one  hand  and  an  oar  in  the  other.  We  shot 
along  the  waters,  a  flying  mass  of  flame;  and  while  both 
fleets  were  gazing  on  us  in  astonishment,  rushed  under  the 
stern  of  the  commander's  trireme.  The  fire  soon  rolled  up 
her  tarry  sides,  and  ran  along  the  cordage.  But  the  de- 
fence was  desperate,  and  lances  rained  upon  us.  Half  of 
us  were  disabled  in  the  first  discharge;  the  shallop  was 
battered  with  huge  stones;  and  I  felt  that  she  was  sink- 
ing. 

"One  trial  more,  brave  comrades,  one  glorious  trial 
more !  The  boat  must  go  down ;  and  unless  we  would  go 
along  with  it,  we  must  board." 

I  leaped  forward,  and  clung  to  the  chains.  My  example 
was  followed.  The  boat  went  down ;  and  this  sight,  which 


286  8  AL  AT  HI  EL. 

was  just  discoverable  by  the  livid  flame  of  the  vessel,  raised 
a  roar  of  triumph  among  the  enemy.  But  to  climb  up  the 
tall  sides  of  the  trireme  was  beyond  our  skill,  and  we  re- 
mained, dashed  by  the  heavy  waves,  as  she  rose  and  fell. 
Our  only  alternatives  now  were  to  be  piked,  drowned,  or 
burned.  The  flames  were  already  rapidly  advancing ;  showers 
of  sparkles  fell  upon  our  heads;  the  clamps  and  iron- work 
were  growing  hot  to  the  touch ;  the  smoke  was  rolling  over 
us  in  suffocating  volumes.  I  was  giving  up  all  for  lost, 
when  a  mountainous  billow  swept  the  vessel's  head  round, 
and  I  saw  a  blaze  burst  out  from  the  shore — the  Roman 
tents  were  on  fire! 

Consternation  seized  the  crews,  thus  attacked  on  all 
sides ;  and,  uncertain  of  the  number  of  the  assailants,  they 
began  to  desert  the  ships,  and,  by  boats  or  swimming,  make 
for  the  various  points  of  the  land.  The  sight  reanimated 
me.  I  climbed  up  the  side  of  the  trireme,  torch  in  hand, 
and  with  my  haggard  countenance,  made  still  wilder  by 
the  wild  work  of  the  night,  looked  a  formidable  apparition 
to  men  already  harassed  out  of  all  courage.  They  plunged 
overboard — and  I  was  monarch  of  the  finest  war-galley 
on  the  coast  of  Syria. 

But  my  kingdom  was  without  subjects.  None  of  my 
own  crew  had  followed  me.  I  saw  the  pirate  vessels  bearing 
down  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  fleet;  and  hailed 
them,  but  they  all  swept  far  wide  of  the  trireme.  The  fire 
had  taken  too  fast  hold  of  her  to  make  approach  safe.  I 
now  began  to  feel  my  situation.  The  first  sense  of  triumph 
was  past,  and  I  found  myself  deserted.  The  deed  of  dev- 
astation, meanwhile,  was  rapidly  going  on.  I  saw  the 
Roman  ships  successively  boarded,  almost  without  resist- 
ance, and  in  a  blaze.  The  conflagration  rose  in  sheets  and 
spires  to  the  heavens,  and  colored  the  waters  to  an  im- 
measurable extent  with  the  deepest  dye  of  gore.  I  heard 
the  victorious  shouts,  and  mine  rose  spontaneously  along 
with  them.  In  every  vessel  burned,  in  every  torch  flung,  I 
rejoiced  in  a  new  blow  to  the  tyrants  of  Judea.  But  my 
thoughts  were  soon  fearfully  brought  home.  The  fire 
reached  the  cables;  the  trireme,  plunging  and  tossing  like 
a  living  creature  in  its  last  agony,  burst  away  from  her 
anchors :  the  wind  was  off  the  shore ;  a  gust,  strong  as  the 
jjlow  of  a  battering-ram,  struck  her;  and,  on  the  back  of 
a  huge  wave,  she  shot  out  to  sea,  a  flying  pyramid  of  fire. 


&ALATHIEL.  287 

CHAPTEE  XL. 

NEVER  was  man  more  indifferent  to  the  result  than  the 
solitary  voyager  of  the  burning  trireme.  What  had  life 
for  me?  I  gazed  round  me.  The  element  of  fire  reigned 
supreme.  The  shore — moimtain,  vale,  and  sand — was 
bright  as  day,  from  the  blaze  of  the  tents  and  the  floating 
fragments  of  the  galleys.  The  heavens  were  an  arch  of 
angry  splendor — every  stooping  cloud  swept  along,  red- 
dened with  the  various  dyes  of  the  conflagration  below. 
The  sea  was  a  rolling  abyss  of  the  fiercest  color  of  slaugh- 
ter. The  blazing  vessels,  loosened  from  the  shore,  rushed 
madly  before  the  storm,  sheet  and  shroud  shaking  loose 
abroad,  like  vast  wings  of  flame. 

At  length  all  disappeared.  The  shore  faded  far  into  a 
dim  line  of  light;  the  galleys  sank,  or  were  consumed;  tho 
sea  grew  dark  again.  But  the  trireme,  strongly  built,  and 
of  immense  size,  still  fed  the  flame,  and  still  shot  on  through 
the  tempest,  that  fell  on  her  the  more  furiously  as  she  lost 
the  cover  of  the  land.  The  waves  rose  to  a  height  that 
often  baffled  the  wind,  and  left  me  floating  in  a  strange  cairn 
between  two  black  walls  of  water,  reaching  to  the  clouds, 
and  on  whose  smooth  sides  the  image  of  the  burning  vessel 
was  reflected  as  strongly  as  in  a  mirror.  But  the  ascent  to 
the  summit  of  those  fearful  barriers  again  let  in  the  storm 
in  its  rage.  The  tops  of  the  billows  were  whirled  off  in 
sheets  of  foam ;  the  wind  tore  mast  and  sail  away,  and  the 
vessel  was  dashed  forward  like  a  stone  discharged  from  an 
engine.  I  stood  on  the  poop,  which  the  spray  and  the  wind 
kept  clear  of  flame,  and  contemplated,  with  some  feeling 
of  the  fierce  grandeur  of  the  spectacle,  the  fire  rolling  over 
the  forward  part  of  the  vessel  in  a  thousand  shapes  and 
folds. 

While  I  was  thus  careering  along,  like  the  genius  of  fire 
upon  his  throne,  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  sails  scattering  in 
every  direction  before  me — I  had  rushed  into  the  middle 
of  one  of  those  small  trading  fleets  that  coasted  annually 
between  the  Euxine  and  the  Nile.  They  flew,  as  if  pursued 
by  a  fiend.  But  the  same  wind  that  bore  them  bore  me; 
and  their  screams,  as  the  trireme  bounded  from  billow  to 
billow  on  their  track,  were  audible  even  through  the  roar- 
ings of  the  storm.  They  gradually  succeeded  in  spreading 


238  BALATBIEL. 

themselves  so  far  that  the  contact  with  the  flame  must  be 
partial.  But  on  one,  the  largest  and  most  crowded,  tho 
trireme  bore  inevitably  down.  The  hunted  ship  tried  every 
mode  of  escape  in  vain;  it  manceuvred  with  extraordinary 
skill;  but  the  pursuer,  lightened  of  every  burthen,  rushed 
on  like  a  messenger  of  vengeance. 

I  could  distinctly  see  the  confusion  and  misery  of  the 
crowd  that  covered  the  deck;  men  and  women  kneeling, 
weeping,  fainting,  or,  in  the  fierce  riot  of  despair,  strug- 
gling for  some  wretched  spoil,  that  a  few  moments  more 
must  tear  from  all  alike.  But  among  the  fearful  mingling 
of  sounds,  one  voice  I  suddenly  heard  that  struck  to  my 
soul.  It  alone  roused  me  from  my  stern  scorn  of  human 
suffering.  I  no  longer  looked  upon  those  beings  as  upon 
insects,  that  must  be  crushed  in  the  revolution  of  the 
great  wheel  of  fate.  The  heart,  the  living,  human  heart, 
palpitated  within  me.  I  rushed  to  the  side  of  the  tri- 
reme, and  with  voice  and  hand  made  signals  to  the  crew 
tc  take  me  on  board.  But  at  my  call  a  cry  of  agony  rang 
through  the  vessel.  All  fled  to  its  further  part,  but  a  few, 
who,  unable  to  move,  were  seen  dropped  on  their  knee?, 
and  in  the  attitudes  of  preternatural  fear,  imploring  every 
power  of  heaven.  Shocked  by  the  consciousness  that,  even 
in  the  hour  when  mutual  hazard  softens  the  heart  of  man, 
I  was  an  object  of  horror,  I  shrank  back.  I  heard  the 
voice  once  more,  and  once  more  resolving  to  get  on  board, 
flung  a  burning  fragment  over  the  side  to  help  me  through 
the  waves. 

But  the  time  was  past.  The  fragment  had  scarcely 
touched  the  foam,  when  a  sheet  of  lightning  wrapped  sea 
and  sky;  the  flying  vessel  was  gone.  My  eye  looked  but 
upon  the  wilderness  of  waters.  The  flash  was  fatal.  It 
had  struck  the  hold  of  my  trireme,  in  which  was  stowed  a 
large  freightage  of  the  bitumen  and  nitre  of  the  desert. 
A  column  of  flame,  white  as  silver,  rose  straight  and 
steadily  up  to  the  clouds;  and  the  huge  ship,  disparting 
timber  by  timber,  reeled,  heaved,  and  plunged  headlong 
into  the  bosom  of  the  ocean. 

I  rose  to  the  surface  from  a  prodigious  depth.  I  was 
nearly  breathless.  My  limbs  were  wasted  with  famine 
and  fatigue;  but  the  tossing  of  the  surges  sustained  and 
swept  me  on.  The  chill  at  last  benumbed  me,  and  my 


SALA'l'tilEL.  289 

limbs  were  heavy  as  iron,  when  a  broken  mast  rolling  by 
entangled  me  in  its  cordage.  It  drove  towards  a  point  of 
land,  round  which  the  current  swept.  Strongly  netted  in 
the  wreck,  I  was  dragged  along,  sometimes  above  the  bil- 
low, sometimes  below.  But  a  violent  shock  released  me, 
and  with  a  new  terror  I  felt  myself  go  down.  I  was  en- 
gulfed in  the  whirlpool ! 

Every  sensation  was  horridly  vivid.  I  had  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  life,  and  of  the  unfathomable  depth  into  which 
1  was  descending.  I  heard  the  roar  and  rushing  of  the 
waters  round  me;  the  holding  of  my  breath  was  torture; 
1  strained,  struggled,  tossed  out  my  arms,  and  grasped 
madly  around,  as  if  to  catch  something  that  might  retard 
my  hideous  descent.  My  eyes  were  open.  I  never  was 
less  stunned  by  shock  or  fear.  The  solid  darkness,  the 
suffocation,  the  furious  whirl  of  the  eddy  that  spun  me 
round  its  huge  circle  like  an  atom  of  sand,  every  sense  of 
drowning,  passed  through  my  shattered  frame  with  an 
individual  and  successive  pang.  I  at  last  touched  some- 
thing, whether  living  or  dead,  fish  or  stone,  I  know  not; 
hut  the  impulse  changed  my  direction,  and  I  was  darted  up 
to  the  surface,  in  a  little  bay  sheltered  by  hills. 

The  storm  had  gone,  with  the  rapidity  of  the  south.  The 
sun  burned  bright  and  broad  above  my  head;  the  pleasant 
breath  of  groves  and  flowery  perfumes  came  on  the  waters ; 
a  distant  sound  of  sweet  voices  lingered  on  the  air.  Like 
one  roused  from  a  frightful  dream,  I  could  scarcely  believe 
that  this  was  reality.  But  the  rolling  waters  behind  gave 
me  sudden  evidence.  A  billow,  the  last  messenger  of  the 
storm,  burst  into  the  little  bay,  filled  it  to  the  brim  with 
foam,  and  tossed  me  far  forward.  It  rolled  back,  drag- 
ging with  it  the  sedge  and  pebbles  of  the  beach.  I  grasped 
Lhe  trunk  of  an  olive,  rough  and  firm  as  the  rock  itself. 
The  retiring  wave  left  me ;  I  felt  my  way  some  paces  among 
the  trees,  cast  myself  down,  and,  worn  out  with  fatigue, 
had  scarcely  reached  their  shade,  when  I  fainted. 

I  awoke  in  the  decline  of  the  day,  as  I  could  perceive  by 
the  yellow  and  orange  hues  that  colored  the  thick  branches 
above  me.  I  was  lying  in  a  delicious  recess,  crowded  with 
fruit  trees ;  my  bed  was  the  turf,  but  it  was  soft  as  down ;  a 
solitary  nightingale  above  my  head  was  sending  forth 
snatches  of  that  melody  which  night  prolongs  into  the  very 


290  BALATHIEL. 

voice  of  sweetness  and  sorrow;  and  a  balmy  air  from  the 
wild  thyme  and  blossoms  of  the  rose  breathed  soothingly, 
even  to  the  mind. 

I  had  been  thrown  on  one  of  the  little  isles  that  lie  off 
Anthaedon,  a  portion  of  the  Philistine  territory,  before  it 
was  won  by  our  hero  the  Maccabee.  The  commerce  which 
once  filled  the  arm  of  the  sea  near  Gaza  had  perished  in 
the  change  of  masters ;  and  silence  and  seclusion  reigned  in 
a  spot  formerly  echoing  with  the  tumult  of  merchant  and 
mariner.  The  little  isle,  the  favorite  retreat  of  the  opulent 
Greek  and  Syrian  traders,  in  the  overpowering  heats  of 
summer,  and  cultivated  with  the  lavish  expenditure  of 
commercial  wealth,  now  gave  no  proof  of  its  ever  having 
felt  the  foot  of  man,  but  in  the  spontaneous  exuberance 
of  flowers,  once  brought  from  every  region  of  the  East  and 
West,  and  the  exquisite  fruits  that  still  glowed  on  its  slopes 
and  dells.  In  all  things  else  nature  had  resumed  her  rights ; 
the  gilded  pavilions,  the  temples  of  Parian  and  Numidian 
stone,  were  in  ruins,  and  buried  under  a  carpef  of  roses  and 
myrtles.  The  statues  left  but  here  and  there  a  remnant  of 
themselves,  a  lovely  relic,  wreathed  over  in  fantastic  spirals 
by  the  clematis  and  other  climbing  plants.  The  sculptured 
fountain  let  its  waters  loose  over  the  ground;  and  the 
guardian  genius  that  hung  in  marble  beauty  over  the 
spring,  had  long  since  resigned  his  charge,  and  lay  muti- 
lated and  discolored  with  the  air  and  the  dew.  But  the 
spring  still  gushed,  bounding  bright  between  the  gay 
fif-sures  of  the  cliff,  and  marking  its  course  through  the 
plain  by  the  richer  mazes  of  green. 

To  me,  who  was  as  weary  of  existence  as  ever  was  galley- 
slave,  this  spot  of  quiet  loveliness  had  a  tenfold  power. 
My  mind,  like  my  body,  longed  for  rest. 

Through  life  I  had  walked  in  a  thorny  path ;  my  ambi- 
tion had  winged  a  tempestuous  atmosphere.  Useless  haz- 
ards, wild  projects,  bitter  sufferings  were  my  portion. 
Those  feelings  in  which  alone  I  could  be  said  to  live,  had 
all  been  made  inlets  of  pain.  The  love  which  nature  and 
justice  won  from  me  to  my  family,  was  perpetually 
thwarted  by  a  chain  of  circumstances,  that  made  me  a 
wretched,  helpless,  and  solitary  man.  What  then  could 
I  do  better  than  abandon  the  idle  hope  of  finding  happi- 
ness among  mankind;  break  off  the  trial,  which  must  be 


8ALATBIEL.  291 

prolonged  only  to  my  evil;  and  elude  the  fate  that  des- 
tined me  to  be  an  exile  in  the  world  ?  Yes !  I  would  no 
longer  be  a  man  of  suffering,  in  the  presence  of  its  happi- 
ness; a  wretch  stripped  of  an  actual  purpose,  or  a  solid 
hope,  in  the  midst  of  its  activity  and  triumph;  the  ab- 
horred example  of  a  career  miserable  with  defeated  pursuit, 
and  tantalized  with  expectations,  vain  as  the  ripple  on  the 
stream ! 

In  this  stern  resolve,  gathering  a  courage  from  despair — 
as  the  criminal  on  the  scaffold  scoffs  at  the  world  that  re- 
jects him — I  determined  to  exclude  recollection.  The  spot 
round  me  was,  henceforth,  to  fill  up  the  whole  measure  of 
my  thoughts.  Wife,  children,  friends,  country,  to  me  must 
exist  no  more.  I  imaged  them  in  the  tomb ;  I  talked  with 
them  as  shadows,  as  the  graceful  and  lovely  existences  of 
ages  past — as  hallowed  memorials;  but  labored  to  divest 
them  of  the  individual  features  that  cling  to  the  soul. 

Lest  this  mystic  repose  should  be  disturbed  by  any  of  the 
sights  of  living  man,  I  withdrew  deeper  into  the  shades 
which  first  sheltered  me.  It  was  enough  for  me  that  there 
was  a  canopy  of  leaves  above,  to  shield  my  limbs  from  the 
casual  visitations  of  a  sky  whose  sapphire  looked  scarcely 
capable  of  a  stain,  and  that  the  turf  was  soft  for  my  couch. 
Pruits,  sufficient  to  tempt  the  most  luxurious  taste,  were 
falling  round  me;  and  the  waters  of  the  bright  rivulet, 
scooped  in  the  rind  of  citron  and  orange,  were  a  draught 
that  the  epicure  might  envy.  I  was  still  utterly  ignorant  on 
what  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  I  was  thrown,  further  than 
that  the  sun  rose  behind  my  bower,  and  threw  his  western 
lustre  on  the  waveless  expanse  of  sea  that  spread  before  it 
to  the  round  horizon. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

BUT  no  man  can  be  a  philosopher  against  nature.  With 
my  strength  the  desire  of  exertion  returned.  My  most  vo- 
luptuous rest  became  irksome.  Memory  would  not  be  re- 
strained ;  the  floodgates  of  thought  opened  once  more ;  and, 
to  resist  the  passion  for  the  world,  I  was  driven  to  tha 
drudgery  of  the  hands.  I  gathered  wood  for  the  winter's 
fuel,  in  the  midst  of  days  when  the  sun  poured  fire  from 


292  KALATHIEL. 

the  heavens;  I  attempted  to  build  a  hut,  beside  grottos 
that  a  hermit  would  love;  I  trained  trees,  and  cultivated 
flowers,  where  the  soil  threw  out  all  that  was  rich  in  both 
with  exhaustless  prodigality. 

Yet  no  expedient  would  appease  the  passion  for  the  ab- 
sorbing business  of  the  world.  My  bower  lost  its  enchant- 
ment ;  the  delight  of  lying  on  beds  of  violet,  and,  with  my 
eyes  fixed  on  the  heavens,  wandering  away  in  rich  illusion, 
palled  upon  me:  the  colors  of  the  vision  had  grown  dim. 
I  no  longer  saw  shapes  of  beauty  winging  their  way 
through  the  celestial  azure ;  I  heard  no  harmonies  of  spirits 
on  the  midnight  winds;  I  followed  no  longer  the  sun, 
rushing  on  his  golden  chariot-wheels  to  lands  unstained  by 
human  step ;  or  plunged  with  him  at  eve  into  the  depths, 
and  ranged  the  secret  wonders  of  ocean. 

Labor  in  its  turn  grew  irksome.  I  began  to  reproach 
myself  for  the  vulgar  existence  which  occupied  only  the 
inferior  portion  of  my  nature;  living  only  for  food,  sleep, 
and  shelter,  what  was  I  better  than  the  seals  that  basked 
on  the  shore  at  my  feet  ?  Night,  too — that  mysterious  rest, 
interposed  for  purposes  of  such  varied  beneficence — to 
cool  the  brain,  fevered  by  the  bustle  of  the  day — to  soften 
mutual  hostility,  by  a  pause  to  which  all  alike  must  yield 
— to  remind  our  forgetful  nature,  by  a  perpetual  sem- 
blance, of  the  time  when  all  things  must  pass  a\Vay,  and 
be  silent,  and  sleep — to  sit  in  judgment  on  our  hearts,  and, 
by  a  decision  which  no  hypocrisy  can  disguise,  anticipate 
the  punishment  of  the  villain,  as  it  gives  the  man  of  virtue 
the  foretaste  of  his  reward — night  began  to  exert  its  old 
influence  over  me;  and,  with  the  strongest  determination 
to  think  no  more  of  what  had  been,  I  closed  my  eyes,  but 
to  let  in  the  past.  I  might  have  said  that  my  true  sleep 
was  during  the  labors  of  the  day ;  and  my  waking,  when  I 
lay,  with  my  senses  sealed,  upon  my  bed  of  leaves. 

It  is  impossible  to  shut  up  the  mind ;  and  I  at  last 
abandoned  the  struggle.  The  spell  of  indolence  once  broken 
I  became  as  restless  as  an  eagle  in  a  cage.  My  first  object 
was  to  discover  on  what  corner  of  the  land  I  was  thrown. 
Nothing  could  be  briefer  than  the  circuit  of  my  island,  and 
nothing  less  explanatory.  It  was  one  of  those  little  allu- 
vial spots  that  grow  round  the  first  rock  that  catches  the 
vegetation  swept  down  by  rivers.  Ages  had  gone  by,  while 


SALATHIEL.  •     293 

reed  was  bound  to  reed,  and  one  bed  of  clay  laid  upon  an- 
other. The  ocean  had  thrown  up  its  sands  on  the  shore; 
the  winds  had  sown  tree  and  herb  on  the  naked  sides  of  the 
tall  rock ;  the  tree  had  drawn  the  cloud,  and  from  its  roots 
let  loose  the  spring.  Cities  and  empires  had  perished 
while  this  little  island  was  forming  into  loveliness.  Thus 
nature  perpetually  builds,  while  decay  does  its  work  with 
the  pomps  of  man.  From  the  shore  I  saw  but  a  long  line 
of  yellow  sand  across  a  broad  belt  of  blue  waters.  No 
sight  on  earth  could  less  attract  the  eye,  or  be  less  indic- 
ative of  man. 

Yet  within  that  sandy  barrier  what  wild  and  wondrous 
acts  might  be  doing,  and  to  be  done !  My  mind,  with  a 
pinion  that  no  sorrow  or  bondage  could  tame,  passed  over 
the  desert,  and  saw  the  battle,  the  siege,  the  bloody  sedi- 
tion, the  long  and  heart-broken  banishment,  the  fierce  con- 
flict of  passions  irrestrainable  as  the  tempest,  the  melan- 
choly ruin  of  my  country  by  a  judgment  powerful  as  fate, 
and  dreary  and  returnless  as  the  grave !  But  the  waters 
between  me  and  that  shore  were  an  obstacle  that  no  vigor 
of  imagination  could  overcome.  I  was  too  feeble  to  at- 
tempt the  passage  by  swimming.  The  opposite  coast  ap- 
peared to  be  uninhabited,  and  the  few  fishing-boats  that 
passed  lazily  along  this  lifeless  coast  evidently  shunned 
the  island,  as  I  conceived,  from  some  hidden  shoal.  I 
felt  myself  a  prisoner,  and  the  thought  irritated  me.  That 
ancient  disturbance  of  my  mind,  which  rendered  it  so 
keenly  excitable,  was  born  again;  I  felt  its  coming,  and 
knew  that  my  only  resource  was  to  escape  from  this  cir- 
cumscribing paradise,  which  was  become  my  dungeon.  Day 
after  day  I  paced  the  shore,  awaking  the  echoes  with  my 
useless  shouts,  as  each  distant  sail  glided  along  close  to 
the  sandy  line  that  was  now  to  me  the  unattainable  path 
of  happiness.  I  made  signals  from  the  hill,  but  I  might 
as  well  have  summoned  the  vultures  to  stop  as  they  flew 
screaming  above  my  head  to  feed  on  the  relics  of  the  Syrian 
caravans. 

What  trifles  can  sometimes  stand  between  man  and  en- 
joyment !  Wisdom  would  have  thanked  Heaven  for  the 
hope  of  escaping  the  miseries  of  life  in  the  little  enchanted 
round,  guarded  by  that  intrenchment  of  waters,  filled  with 
every  production  that  could  delight  the  sense,  and  giving 


294  8ALATHIEL. 

to  the  spirit,  weary  of  all  that  the  world  could  offer,  the 
gentle  retirement  in  which  it  could  gather  its  remaining 
strength,  and  make  its  peace  with  Heaven. 

I  was  lying  during  a  fiery  noon  on  the  edge  of  the  island, 
looking  towards  the  opposite  coast,  the  only  object  on  which 
I  could  now  bear  to  look,  when,  in  the  stillness  of  the  hour, 
I  heard  a  strange  mingling  of  distant  sounds,  yet  so 
totally  indistinct  that,  after  long  listening,  I  could  con- 
jecture it  to  be  nothing  but  the  rising  of  the  surge.  It  died 
away.  But  it  haunted  me:  I  heard  it  in  fancy.  It  fol- 
lowed me  in  the  morn,  the  noon,  and  the  twilight;  in  the 
hour  of  toil,  and  in  the  hour  when  earth  and  heaven  were 
soft  and  silent  as  an  infant's  sleep — when  the  very  spirit 
of  tranquillity  seemed  to  be  folding  his  dewy  wings  over 
the  world. 

Wearied  more  with  thought  than  with  the  daily  toil  that 
I  imposed  on  myself  for  its  cure,  I  had  one  night  wandered 
to  the  shore,  and  lain  down  under  the  shelter  of  those  thick- 
woven  boughs  that  scarcely  let  in  the  glimpses  of  the 
moon.  The  memory  of  all  whom  later  chances  brought  in 
my  path  passed  before  me — the  fate  of  my  gallant  kins- 
men in  Masada,  of  the  wily  Ishmaelite,  of  the  pirate  cap- 
tain, of  that  unhappy  crew  whose  danger  was  my  involun- 
tary deed,  of  my  family  scattered  upon  the  face  of  the 
world.  Arcturus,  bending  towards  the  horizon,  told  me  that 
it  was  already  midnight,  when  my  reverie  was  broken  by 
the  same  sounds  that  had  once  disturbed  my  day.  But 
they  now  came  full  and  distinct.  I  heard  the  crashing  of 
heavy  axles  along  the  road,  the  measured  tramp  of  cavalry, 
the  calls  of  the  clarion  and  trumpet.  They  seemed  beside 
me.  I  started  from  my  sand,  but  all  around  was  still.  I 
gazed  across  the  waters;  they  were  lying,  like  another 
sky,  reflecting  star  for  star  with  the  blue  immensity  above ; 
but  on  them  was  no  living  thing. 

I  had  heard  of  phantom  armies  traversing  the  air,  but 
the  sky  was  serene  as  crystal.  I  climbed  the  hill,  upon 
whose  summit  I  recollected  to  have  seen  the  ruins  of  an 
altar:  gathered  the  weeds,  and  lighted  them  for  a  beacon. 
The  flame  threw  a  wide  and  ruddy  reflection  on  the  waters 
and  the  sky.  I  watched  by  it  until  morn.  But  the  sound 
had  died  as  rapidly  as  it  rose ;  and  when,  with  the  first 
pearly  tinge  of  the  east,  the  coast  shaped  itself  beneath  my 


SALATUIEL.  295 

eye,  I  saw  with  bitter  disappointment  but  the  same  solitary 
shore.  The  idea  of  another  day  of  suspense  was  intoler- 
able ;  I  returned  to  my  place  of  refuge,  gave  it  that  glance 
of  mingled  feeling,  without  which  perhaps  no  man  leaves 
the  shelter  which  he  is  never  to  see  again;  collected  a  few 
fruits  for  my  sustenance,  if  I  should  reach  the  desert ;  and, 
with  a  resolution  to  perish,  if  it  so  pleased  Providence,  but 
not  to  return,  plunged  into  the  sea. 

The  channel  was  even  broader  than  I  had  calculated  by 
the  eye.  My  limbs  were  still  enfeebled ;  but  my  determina- 
tion was  strength.  I  was  swept  by  the  current  far  from  the 
opposite  curve  of  the  shore,  yet  its  force  spared  mine ;  and 
after  a  long  struggle,  I  felt  the  ground  under  my  feet.  I 
was  overjoyed;  though  never  was  scene  less  fitted  for  joy. 
To  the  utmost  verge  of  the  view  spread  the  sands,  a  sullen 
hcrbless  waste,  glowing  like  a  sheet  of  brass  in  the  almost 
vertical  sun. 

But  I  was  on  land!  I  had  accomplished  my  purpose. 
Hope,  the  power  of  exertion,  the  chances  of  glorious  future 
life,  were  before  me.  I  was  no  longer  a  prisoner,  within 
the  borders  of  a  spot  which,  for  all  the  objects  of  manly 
existence,  might  as  well  have  been  my  grave. 

I  journeyed  on  by  sun  and  star  in  that  direction  which 
to  the  Jew  is  an  instinct — to  Jerusalem.  Yet  what  fearful 
reverses,  in  this  time  of  confusion,  might  not  have  occurred 
even  there !  What  certainty  could  I  have  of  being  spared 
the  bitterest  losses,  when  sorrow  and  slaughter  reigned 
through  the  land  ?  Was  I  to  be  protected  from  the  storm, 
that  fell  with  such  promiscuous  fury  upon  all  ?  I,  too,  the 
marked,  the  victim,  the  example  to  mankind !  I  looked 
wistfully  back  to  the  isle — that  isle  of  oblivion. 

While  I  was  pacing  the  sand,  that  actually  scorched  my 
feet,  I  heard  a  cry,  and  saw  on  a  low  range  of  sand-hills,  at 
some  distance,  a  figure  making  violent  gestures.  Friend  or 
enemy,  at  least  here  was  man;  and  I  did  not  deeply  care 
for  the  consequences,  even  of  meeting  man  in  his  worst 
shape.  Hunger  and  thirst  might  be  more  formidable  en- 
emies in  the  end;  and  I  advanced  towards  the  half-naked 
savage,  who,  however,  ran  from  me,  crying  out  louder  than 
ever.  I  dragged  my  weary  limbs  after  him,  and  at  length 
reached  the  edge  of  a  little  dell,  in  which  stood  a  circle  of 
tents.  I  had  fallen  among  the  robbers  of  the  desert;  but 


296  SALATHIEL. 

there  was  evident  confusion  in  this  fragment  of  a  tribe. 
The  camels  were  in  the  act  of  being  loaded ;  men  and  women 
were  gathering  their  household  matters  with  the  haste  of 
terror;  and  dogs,  sheep,  camels,  and  children,  set  up  their 
voices  in  a  general  clamor. 

Dreading  that  I  might  lose  my  only  chance  of  refresh- 
ment and  guidance,  I  cried  out  with  all  my  might,  and 
hastened  down  towards  them;  but  the  sight  of  me  raised  a 
universal  scream;  and  every  living  thing  took  flight,  the 
horsemen  of  the  colony  gallantly  leading  the  way,  with  a 
speed  that  soon  left  the  pedestrians  far  in  the  rear.  But 
their  invader  conquered  only  for  food.  I  entered  the  first 
of  the  deserted  tents,  and  indulged  myself  with  a  full  feast 
of  bread,  dry  and  rough  as  the  sand  on  which  it  was  baked, 
and  of  water,  only  less  bitter  than  that  through  which  I 
had  swum.  Still,  all  luxury  is  relative.  To  me  they  were 
both  delicious,  and  I  thanked  at  once  the  good  fortune 
which  had  provided  so  prodigally  for  those  withered  mon- 
archs  of  the  sands,  and  had  invested  my  raggedness  with 
the  salutary  terror,  that  gave  me  the  fruits  of  triumph 
Without  the  toil. 

At  the  close  of  my  feast,  I  uttered  a  few  customary 
words  of  thanksgiving.  A  cry  of  joy  rang  in  my  ears; 
I  looked  round ;  saw,  to  my  surprise,  a  bale  of  carpets  walk 
forward  from  a  corner  of  the  tent,  and  heard  a  Jewish 
tongue  imploring  for  life  and  freedom.  I  rapidly  developed 
the  speaker;  and  from  this  repulsive  coverture  came  forth 
one  of  the  loveliest  young  females  that  I  had  ever  seen. 
Her  story  was  soon  told.  She  was  the  grand-daughter  of 
Ananus,  the  late  high-priest,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  his  nation  for  every  lofty  quality;  but  he  had  fallen 
on  evil  days.  His  resistance  to  faction  sharpened  the 
dagger  against  him,  and  he  perished  in  one  of  the  merci- 
less feuds  of  the  city.  His  only  descendant  was  now  before 
me;  she  had  been  sent  to  claim  the  protection  of  her  rela- 
tives in  the  south  of  Judea.  But  her  escort  was  dispersed 
by  an  attack  of  the  Arabs,  and  in  the  division  of  the  spoil, 
the  sheik  of  this  little  encampment  obtained  her  as  his 
share.  The  robber-merchant  was  on  his  way  to  Caesarea, 
to  sell  his  prize  to  the  Roman  governor;  when  my  arrival 
put  his  caravan  to  the  rout.  To  my  inquiry  into  the  cause 
of  this  singular  success,  the  fair  girl  answered,  that  the 


SALATHIEL.  297 

Arabs  had  taken  me  for  a  supernatural  visitant,  "probably 
come  to  claim  some  account  of  their  proceedings  in  the  late 
expedition."  They  had  been  first  startled  by  the  blaze  in 
the  island,  which,  by  a  tradition  of  the  desert,  was  said  to  be 
the  dwelling  of  forbidden  beings.  My  passage  of  the 
channel  was  seen,  and  increased  the  wonder;  my  daring 
to  appear  alone,  among  men  whom  mankind  shunned,  com- 
pleted the  belief  of  my  more  than  mortal  prowess ;  and  the 
Arabs'  courage  abandoned  a  contest,  in  which  "the  least 
that  could  happen  to  them  was,  to  be  swept  into  the  surge, 
or  tossed  piecemeal  upon  the  winds." 

To  prevent  the  effects  of  their  returning  intrepidity,  no 
time  was  to  be  lost  in  our  escape.  But  the  sun,  which 
would  have  scorched  anything  but  a  lizard  or  a  Bedoween 
to  death,  kept  us  prisoners  until  evening.  We  were  ac- 
tively employed  in  the  meantime.  The  plunder  of  the 
horde  was  examined,  with  the  curiosity  that  makes  one  of 
the  indefeasible  qualities  of  the  fair  in  all  climates;  and 
the  young  Jewess  had  not  been  an  inmate  of  the  tent,  nor 
possessed  the  brightest  eyes  among  the  daughters  of  women, 
for  nothing.  With  an  air  between  play  and  revenge,  she 
hunted  out  every  recess  in  which  even  the  art  of  Arab 
thievery  could  dispose  of  its  produce ;  and  at  length  rooted 
up  from  a  hole  in  the  very  darkest  corner  of  the  tent  that 
precious  deposit  for  which  the  sheik  would  have  sacrificed 
all  mankind,  and  even  the  last  hair  of  his  beard — a  bag  of 
shekels.  She  danced  with  exultation,  as  she  poured  the 
shining  contents  on  the  ground  before  me. 

"If  ever  Arab  regretted  his  capture,"  said  she,  "this 
most  unlucky  of  sheiks  shall  have  cause.  But  I  shall  teach 
him  at  least  one  virtue — repentance  to  the  last  hour  of 
his  life.  I  think  that  I  see  him  at  this  moment  frightened 
into  a  philosopher,  and  wishing  from  the  bottom  of  his  soul 
that  he  had,  for  once,  resisted  the  temptation  of  his  trade." 

"But  what  will  you  do  with  the  money,  my  pretty 
teacher  of  virtue  to  Arabs  ?" 

"Give  it  to  my  preserver,"  said  she  advancing,  with  a 
look  suddenly  changed  from  sportiveness  to  blushing  ti- 
midity ;  "give  it  to  him  who  was  sent  by  Providence  to  res- 
cue a  daughter  of  Israel  from  the  hands  of  the  heathen." 

In  the  emotion  of  gratitude  to  me  there  was  mingled  a 
loftier  feeling,  never  so  lovely  as  in  youth  and  woman ;  she 


298  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

threw  up  a  single  glance  to  heaven,  and  a  tear  of  piety 
filled  her  sparkling  eye. 

"But,  temptress  and  teacher  at  once,"  said  I,  "by  what 
right  am  I  to  seize  on  the  sheik's  treasury?  May  it  not 
diminish  my  supernatural  dignity  with  the  tribe,  to  be 
known  as  a  plunderer?'* 

"Ha!"  said  she,  with  a  rosy  smile;  "who  is  to  betray 
you  but  your  accomplice?  Besides,  money  is  reputation 
and  innocence,  wisdom  and  virtue,  all  over  the  world." 

Touching,  with  the  tip  of  one  slender  finger,  my  arm  as 
it  lay  folded  on  my  bosom,  she  waved  the  other  hand,  in 
attitudes  of  untaught  persuasion. 

"Is  it  not  true/'  pleaded  the  pretty  creature,  "that  next 
to  a  crime  of  our  own,  is  the  being  a  party  to  the  crime  of 
others?  Now,  for  what  conceivable  purpose  could  the 
Arab  have  collected  this  money  ?  Not  for  food  or  clothing ; 
for  he  can  eat  thistles  with  his  own  camel,  and  nature  has 
furnished  him  with  clothing  as  she  has  furnished  the  bear. 
The  alhaik  is  only  an  encumbrance  to  his  impenetrable 
skin.  What,  then,  can  he  do  with  money  but  mischief,  fit 
out  new  expeditions,  and  capture  other  fair  maidens,  who 
cannot  hope  to  find  spirits,  good  or  bad,  for  their  protect- 
ors? If  we  leave  him  the  means  of  evil,  what  is  it  but 
doing  the  evil  ourselves?  So,"  concluded  this  resistless 
pleader,  carefully  gathering  up  the  spoil,  and  putting  it 
into  my  hands,  "I  have  gained  my  cause,  and  have  now  only 
to  thank  my  most  impartial  judge  for  his  patient  hearing." 

There  is  a  magic  in  woman.  No  man,  not  utterly  de- 
graded, can  listen  without  delight  to  the  accents  of  her 
guileless  heart.  Beauty,  too,  has  a  natural  power  over  the 
mind;  and  it  is  right  that  this  should  be.  All  that  over- 
comes selfishness — the  besetting  sin  of  the  world — is  an 
instrument  of  good.  Beauty  is  but  melody  of  a  higher 
kind ;  and  both  alike  soften  the  troubled  and  hard  nature 
of  man.  Even  if  we  looked  on  lovely  woman  but  as  on  a 
rose,  an  exquisite  production  of  the  summer  hours  of  life, 
it  would  be  idle  to  deny  her  influence,  in  making  even  those 
summer  hours  sweeter.  But,  as  the  companion  of  the  mind, 
as  the  very  model  of  a  friendship  that  no  chance  can  shake, 
the  pleasant  sharer  of  the  heart  of  heart,  the  being  to 
whom  man  returns  after  the  tumult  of  the  day,  like  the 
worshipper  to  a  secret  shrine,  to  revive  his  nobler  tastes 


8ALATHIEL.  299 

and  virtues  at  a  source  pure  from  the  evil  of  the  external 
world ;  where  shall  we  find  her  equal  ?  or  what  must  be  our 
feelings  towards  the  mighty  Disposer  of  earth,  and  all 
that  it  inhabit,  but  of  admiration,  and  gratitude  for  that 
disposal,  which  thus  combines  our  fondest  happiness  with 
our  purest  virtue ! 


CHAPTEL  XLIL 

THE  evening  came  at  last;  the  burning  calm  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  breeze  breathing  of  life ;  and  on  the  sky  sailed, 
as  if  it  were  wafted  by  that  gentle  breeze,  the  evening 
star.  The  lifeless  silence  of  the  desert  now  began  to  be 
broken  by  a  variety  of  sounds,  wild  and  sad  enough  in 
themselves,  but  softening  by  distance,  and  not  ill  suited 
to  that  declining  hour  which  is  so  natural  an  emblem  of 
the  decline  of  life.  The  moaning  of  the  shepherd's  horn ; 
the  low  of  the  folding  herds ;  the  long,  deep  cry-  of  the 
camel;  even  the  scream  of  the  vulture  wheeling  home 
from  some  recent  wreck  on  the  shore;  and  the  howl  of 
the  jackal  venturing  out  on  the  edge  of  dusk,  came  with 
no  unpleasing  melancholy  upon  the  wind.  We  stood  gaz- 
ing impatiently  from  the  tent  door  at  the  west,  that  still 
glowed  like  a  furnace  of  molten  gold. 

"Will  that  sun  never  go  down?"  I  exclaimed.  "We 
must  wait  his  leisure,  and  he  seems  determined  to  tanta- 
lize us." 

"Yes,  like  a  rich  old  man,  determined  to  try  the  pa- 
tience of  his  heirs,  and  more  tenacious  of  his  wealth,  the 
more  his  powers  of  enjoyment  decay,"  said  the  Jewess. 

"Philosophy  from  those  young  lips !  Yet  the  desert  is 
the  place  for  a  philosopher." 

"That  I  deny,"  said  my  sportive  companion.  "Philoso- 
phy is  good  for  nothing  where  it  has  nothing  to  ridicule, 
and  where  it  will  be  neither  fed  nor  flattered.  Its  true 
place  is  the  world,  as  much  as  the  true  place  of  yonder 
falcon  is  wherever  it  can  find  anything  to  pounce  upon. 
Here  your  philosopher  must  labor  for  himself  and  laugh 
at  himself;  an  indulgence  in  which  he  is  the  most  tem- 
perate of  men.  In  short,  he  is  fit  only  for  the  idle,  ga}^ 
ridiculous  and  timid  world.  The  desert  is  the  soil  for  a 


300  8ALATHIEL. 

much  nobler  plant.  If  you  would  traima  poet  into  flower, 
set  him  here." 

"Or  a  plunderer." 

"No  doubt.    They  are  sometimes  much  the  same." 

"Yet  the  desert  produces  nothing — but  Arabs." 

"There  are  some  minds,  even  among  Arabs:  and  some 
of  their  rhapsodies  are  btauty  itself.  The  very  master 
of  this  tent,  who  fought  and  killed,  I  dare  not  say  how 
many,  to  secure  so  precious  a  prize  as  myself;  and  who, 
after  all  his  heroism,  would  have  sold  me  into  slavery  for 
life;  spent  half  his  evenings  sitting  at  this  door  chant- 
ing to  every  star  of  heaven,  and  rhyming,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  to  all  kinds  of  tender  remembrances." 

"But  perhaps  he  was  a  genius,  a  heaven-born  accident; 
and  his  merit  was  the  more  in  being  a  genius  in  the  midst 
of  such  a  scene." 

"No,  everything  round  us  this  hour  is  poetry.  The  si- 
lence— those  broken  sounds  that  make  the  silence  more 
striking  as  they  decay — those  fiery  continents  of  cloud,  the 
empire  of  that  greatest  of  sheiks,  the  sun,  lord  of  the 
red  desert  of  the  air — the  immeasurable  desert  below ! 
Vastness,  obscurity  and  terror,  the  three  spirits  that  work 
the  profoundest  wonders  of  the  poet,  are  here  in  their 
native  region.  And  now,"  she  said  with  a  look,  that 
showed  there  were  other  spells  than  poetry  to  be  found 
in  the  desert,  "to  release  you,  I  know,  by  signs  infallible, 
that  the  sun  is  setting."  1  could  not  avoid  laughing  at  the 
mimic  wisdom  with  which  she  announced  her  discovery; 
and  asked  whence  she  had  acquired  the  faculty  of  solving 
such  rare  problems. 

"Oh,  by  my  incomparable  knowledge  of  the  stars."  She 
pointed  to  the  eastern  sky,  on  which  they  began  to  cluster 
in  showers  of  diamond.  "I  have  to  thank  the  desert  for 
it,  and,"  she  added  with  a  slight  submission  of  voice,  "for 
everything.  I  am  a  daughter  of  tbe  desert ;  the  first  sight 
that  I  saw  was  a  camel;  my  early,  my  only  accomplish- 
ments were  to  ride,  sing  Bedoween  songs,  tell  Bedoween 
stories,  and  tame  a  young  panther.  But  my  history  draws 
to  a  close.  While  I  was  supreme  in  the  graces  of  a  sav- 
age, had  learned  to  sit  a  dromedary,  throw  the  lance,  make 
alhaiks,  and  gallop  for  a  week  together,  love,  resistless 
love  came  in  my  way.  The  son  of  the  sheik,  heir  to  a 


SALATH1EL.  301 

hundred  quarrels  and  ten  thousand  sheep,  goats  and  horses, 
claimed  me  as  his  natural  prey.  I  shrank  from  a  hus- 
band, even  more  accomplished  than  myself,  and  was  med- 
itating how  to  make  my  escape,  whether  into  the  wilder- 
ness or  into  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  when  a  summons  came, 
which,  or  the  money  that  came  with  it,  the  sheik  found  ir- 
resistible. And  now  my  history  is  at  an  end." 

"And  so,"  said  I,  to  provoke  her  to  the  rest  of  her 
narrative,  "your  story  ends,  as  usual,  with  marriage.  You, 
of  course,  finding  that  you  had  nothing  to  prevent  your 
leaving  the  desert,  took  the  female  resolution  of  remain- 
ing in  it;  and,  as  you  might  discard  the  young  sheik  at 
your  pleasure,  refused  to  have  any  other  human  being." 

"Can  you  think  me  capable  of  such  a  horror?"  She 
stamped  her  little  foot  in  indignation  on  the  ground ;  then, 
turning  on  me  with  her  flashing  eye,  penetrated  the  strat- 
agem at  once  by  my  smile. 

"Then,  hear  the  rest.  I  instantly  mounted  my  drome- 
dary, galloped  for  three  days  without  sleep,  and  at  length 
saw  the  towers  of  Jerusalem — glorious  Jerusalem.  I  passed 
through  crowds  that  seemed  to  me  a  gathering  of  the 
world,  streets  that  astonished  me  with  a  thousand  strange 
sights,  and,  overwhelmed  with  magnificence,  delight  and 
fatigue,  arrived  at  a  palace,  where  I  was  met  by  a  host 
of  half-adoring  domestics  and  was  led  to  the  most  ven- 
erable and  beloved  of  wise  and  holy  men,  who  caught  me 
to  his  heart,  called  me  his  Naomi,  his  child,  his  hope ;  and 
shed  tears  and  blessings  on  my  head  as  the  sole  survivor 
of  his  illustrious  line."  She  burst  into  tears. 

The  recollection  of  the  good  and  heroic  high-priest  was 
strong  with  us  both;  and  in  silence  I  suffered  her  sor- 
rows to  have  their  way.  A  faint  echo  of  horns  and  voices 
roused  me. 

"Look  to  the  hills,"  I  exclaimed,  as  I  saw  a  long  black 
line  creeping,  like  a  march  of  ants,  down  the  side  of  a 
distant  ridge  of  sand. 

"Those  are  our  Arabs,"  said  she,  without  a  change  of 
countenance.  "They  are,  of  course,  coming  to  see  what 
the  angel,  or  demon,  who  visited  them  to-day  has  left  in 
witness  of  his  presence.  But,  from  what  I  overheard  of 
their  terrors,  no  Arab  will  venture  near  the  tents  till 
night;  night,  the  general  veil  of  the  iniquitous  of  this 
amusing  and  very  wicked  world." 


302  SAL  AT  HI  EL. 

"Yet  how  shall  we  traverse  the  sands  on  foot  ?" 

"Forbid  it,  the  spirit  of  romance,"  said  she.  "I  must 
see  whether  the  gallantry  of  the  sheik  has  not  provided 
against  that  misfortune."  She  flew  into  the  tent,  and, 
drawing  back  a  curtain,  showed  me  two  mares  of  the  most 
famous  breed  of  Arabia. 

"Here  are  the  Koshlani,"  said  she,  with  playful  malice 
dancing  in  her  eyes.  "I  saw  them  brought  in,  in  triumph, 
last  night,  stolen  from  the  pastures  of  Achmet  Ben  Ali 
himself,  first  horse-stealer  and  prince  of  the  Bedoweens, 
who  is  doubtless  by  this  time  half  dead  of  grief  at  the 
loss  of  the  two  gems  of  his  stud.  I  heard  the  achievement 
told  with  great  rejoicings;  and  a  very  curious  specimen  of 
dexterity  it  was.  Come  forth,"  said  she,  leading  out  two 
beautiful  animals,  white  as  milk.  "Come  forth,  you  two 
lovely  orphans  of  the  true  breed  of  Solomon;  princesses 
with  pedigrees  that  put  kings  to  shame,  unless  they  can 
go  back  two  thousand  years;  birds  of  the  Bedoween,  with 
wings  to  your  feet,  stars  for  eyes,  and  ten  times  the  sense 
of  your  masters  in  your  little  tossing  heads." 

She  sprang  upon  her  courser  and  winded  it  with  the 
delight  of  practiced  skill.  The  Arabs  were  now  but  a  few 
miles  off  and  in  full  gallop  towards  us.  I  urged  her  to 
ride  away  at  once;  but  she  continued  curvetting  and  ma- 
noeuvring her  spirited  steed  that,  enjoying  the  free  air  of 
the  desert  after  having  been  shut  up  so  long,  thre\v  up 
its  red  nostrils  in  the  wind  and  bounded  like  a  stag. 

"A  moment  yet,"  said  she.  "I  have  not  quite  done  with 
the  Arab.  It  is  certainly  bad  treatment  for  his  hospital- 
ity to  have  plundered  him  of  his  dinner,  his  money  and  his 
horses." 

"And  of  his  captive,  a  loss  beyond  all  reparation.'' 

"I  perfectly  believe  so,"  was  the  laughing  answer;  "but 
I  have  been  thinking  of  making  him  a  reparation  which 
any  Arab  on  earth  would  think  worth  even  my  charms.  I 
have  been  contriving  how  to  make  his  fortune." 

"By  returning  his  shekels  ?" 

"Not  a  grain  of  them  shall  he  ever  see.  No,  he  shall 
not  have  the  sorrow 'to  think  that  he  entertained  only  a 
princess  and  a  philosopher.  As  a  spirit  you  came,  and  as 
a  spirit  you  shall  depart,  and  he  shall  have  the  honor  of 
telling  the  tale.  The  national  stories  of  such  matters  are 


BALATBIEL.  £03 

worn  out;  he  shall  have  a  new  one  of  his  own,  and  every 
emir  in  the  kingdoms  of  Ishmael — through  the  fiery  sands 
of  Ichama,  the  riverless  mountains  of  Zayd,  Hejaz,  the 
country  of  flies  and  fools ;  and  Yemen,  the  land  of  lo- 
custs, lawyers,  and  merchants,  will  rejoice  to  have  him  at 
his  meal.  Thus  the  man's  fortune  is  made,  for  there  is  no 
access  to  the  heart  like  that  of  being  necessary  to  the  din- 
ners and  dulness  of  the  mighty." 

"Or  on  the  strength  of  the  wonder,"  said  I,  "he  may 
make  wonders  of  his  own,  turn  charlatan  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude, profess  to  cure  the  incurable,  and  get  solid  gold  for 
empty  pretension;  sell  health  to  the  epicure,  gaiety  to  the 
old,  and  charms  to  the  repulsive;  defy  the  course  of  na- 
ture, and  live  like  a  prince  upon  the  exhaustless  revenue 
of  human  absurdity." 

A  cloud  of  smoke  now  wreathed  up  from  the  sheik's 
tent ;  fire  followed ;  and  even  while  we  looked  on,  the  wind, 
carrying  the  burning  fragments,  set  the  whole  camp  in  a 
blaze.  The  Arabs  gave  a  universal  shriek  and  fled  back, 
scattering  with  gestures  and  cries  of  terror  through  the 
sands. 

"There — there,"  said  my  companion,  clapping  her  deli- 
cate white  palms  in  exultation ;  "let  them  beware  of  making 
women  captives  in  future.  In  my  final  visit  to  the  tent  I 
put  a  firebrand  into  the  very  bundle  of  carpets  in  which 
I  played  the  part  of  slave." 

"Not  to  be  your  representative,  I  presume." 

"Yes,  with  only  the  distinction  that  in  time  I  should 
have  been  much  the  more  perilous  of  the  two.  If  that 
unlucky  sheik  had  dared  to  keep  me  a  week  longer  in  his 
detestable  tent,  I  should  have  raised  a  rebellion  in  the 
tribe,  dethroned  him,  and  turned  princess  on  my  own  ac- 
count. As  to  burning  him  out,  there  was  no  remedy.  But 
for  those  flames  the  tribe  would  have  been  upon  our  road. 
But  for  those  flames  we  might  even  have  been  mistaken 
for  mere  mortals,  and  your  spirits  always  vanish  as  we 
do,  in  fire  and  smoke.  How  nobly  those  tents  blaze ! 
Now,  forward!" 

She  gave  the  reins  to  her  barb,  flung  a  triumphant 
gesture  towards  the  burning  camp,  and,  under  cover  of 
a  huge  sheet  of  fiery  vapor,  we  darted  into  the  wilder- 
ness. 


304  8ALATHIEL. 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

OUR  flight  lay  in  the  road  to  Masada.  The  stars  were 
brilliant  guides,  and  the  coolness  of  the  Arabian  night, 
•which  forms  so  singular  a  contrast  to  the  overpowering 
ardors  of  the  day,  relieved  us  from  the  chief  obstacle  of 
desert  travel.  At  daybreak  we  reached  a  tract,  whose 
broken  and  burnt-up  ground  showed  that  there  had  lately 
encamped  the  army  the  sound  of  whose  march  had  startled 
my  reveries  in  the  island. 

It  was  evening  when  I  caught  the  glimpse  of  the  fortress. 
My  heart  trembled  at  the  sight.  An  impressian  of  evil  was 
upon  me.  Yet  I  must  go  on,  or  die. 

"There,"  said  I,  "you  see  my  home,  and  yours  while 
you  desire  it.  You  will  find  friends  delighted  to  receive 
you,  and  a  protection  that  neither  Roman  nor  Arab  can 
insult.  Heaven  grant  that  all  may  be  as  when  I  left 
JVlasada !"  The  fair  girl  gratefully  thanked  me. 

"I  have  been  long,"  said  she,  "unused  to  kindness,  and 
its  voice  overpowers  me.  But  if  the  duty,  the  gratitude, 
the  faithful  devotedness  of  the  orphan  to  her  generous 
preserver  can  deserve  protection,  I  shall  yet  have  some 
claim.  Suffer  me  to  be  your  daughter." 

She  bowed  her  head  before  me  with  filial  reverence;  I 
took  the  outstretched  hand,  that  quivered  in  mine,  and 
pressed  it  to  my  lips.  The  sacred  compact  was  pledged  in 
the  sight  of  the  stars.  More  formal  treaties  have  been 
made,  but  few  sincerer. 

We  rapidly  advanced  to  the  foot  of  the  ridge,  that,  now 
defining  and  extending,  showed  its  well-known  features  in 
all  their  rugged  grandeur.  But  to  come  within  reach  of 
the  gates,  I  had  still  one  of  the  huge  buttresses  of  the 
mountain  to  go  round.  My  companion,  with  the  quick 
sympathy  that  makes  one  of  the  finest  charms  of  women, 
already  shared  in  my  ominous  fears,  and  rode  by  my  side 
without  a  word.  My  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  ground.  I  was 
roused  by  a  clash  of  warlike  music.  The  suspense  was 
terribly  at  an  end. 

The  spears  of  a  legion  were  moving  in  a  glittering  lin-> 
down  the  further  declivity.  Squadrons  of  horse  in  march- 
ing order  were  drawn  upon  the  plain.  The  baggage  of  a 
littte  army  lay  under  the  eye,  waiting  for  the  escort  now 


8ALATBIEL.  305 

descending  from  the  fortress.  The  story  of  my  rain  was 
told  in  that  single  glance.  All  was  lost ! 

The  walls  of  the  citadel,  breached  in  every  direction, 
gave  signs  of  a  long  siege.  The  White  Stag  of  Naphtali  no 
longer  lifted  its  blazon  on  the  battlements:  dismantling 
and  desolation  were  there.  But  what  horrors  must  have 
been  wrought  before  the  Eomans  could  shake  the  strength 
of  those  walls !  In  what  grave  was  I  to  look  for  my  noble 
brother  and  my  kinsmen?  First,  and  most  fearful,  what 
had  been  the  fate  of  Miriam  and  my  children  ? 

Conscious  that  to  stay  was  to  give  myself  and  my 
trembling  companion  to  the  cruel  mercy  of  Rome,  I  yet 
was  unable  to  leave  the  spot.  I  hovered  round  it,  as  the 
spirit  might  hover  round  the  tomb.  Maddening  with  bitter 
yearnings  of  heart,  that  intense  eagerness  to  know  the  worst, 
which  is  next  to  despair,  I  spurred  up  the  steep  by  an 
obscure  path  that  led  me  to  a  postern.  There  was  no 
sound  within.  I  dashed  through  the  streets.  Not  a  living 
being  was  to  be  seen;  piles  of  fire-wood  lighted  under  the 
principal  buildings  and  at  the  gates,  showed  that  the 
fortress  was  destined  to  immediate  overthrow.  War  had 
done  its  worst.  The  broad  sanguine  plashes  on  the  pave- 
ments showed  that  the  battle  had  been  fought,  long  and 
desperately,  within  the  walls.  The  famous  armory  was  a 
heap  of  ashes.  Ditches  dug  across  the  streets,  and  strewed 
with  broken  weapons,  and  the  white  remnants  of  what  once 
was  man ;  walls  raised  within  walls,  and  now  broken  down ; 
stately  houses  loopholed  and  turned  into  little  fortresses; 
fragments  of  noble  architecture  blocking  up  the  breaches; 
graves  dug  in  every  spot  where  the  spade  could  open  a  few 
feet  of  ground;  fragments  of  superb  furniture  lying  half 
burnt  where  the  defenders  had  been  forced  out  by  confla- 
gration ;  all  gave  sad  evidence  of  the  struggle  of  brave  men 
against  overpowering  numbers. 

But  where  were  they  who  had  made  the  prize  so  dear  to 
the  conquerors?  Was  I  treading  on  the  clay  that  once 
breathed  patriotism  and  love?  Did  the  wreck  on  which  I 
leaned,  as  I  gazed  round  this  mighty  mausoleum  cover  the 
earthly  tenement  of  my  kinsmen,  and,  still  dearer,  the  last 
of  my  name  ?  Was  I  treading  on  the  grave  of  these  gentle 
and  lovely  natures,  for  whose  happiness  I  would  rejoicingly 
have  laid  down  the  sceptre  of  the  world? 


306  8ALATBIEL. 

In  ray  agitation  I  cried  aloud.  My  voice  rang  through 
the  solitude  round  me,  and  returned  on  the  ear  with  a  start- 
ling distinctness.  But  living  sounds  suddenly  mingled  with 
the  echo.  A  low  groan  came  from  a  pile  of  ruins  beside 
me.  I  listened,  as  one  might  listen  for  an  answer  from  the 
sepulchre.  The  voice  was  heard  again.  A  few  stones  from 
the  shattered  wall  gave  way,  and  I  saw  thrust  out  the 
Avithered  bony  hand  of  a  human  being.  I  tore  down  tho 
remaining  impediments,  and  beheld  pale,  emaciated,  and  at 
the  point  of  death  by  famine,  my  friend,  my  fellow-soldier, 
my  fellow-sufferer,  Jubal ! 

Joy  is  sometimes  as  dangerous  as  sorrow.  He  gave  a 
glance  of  recognition,  struggled  forward,  and,  uttering  a 
wild  cry,  fell  senseless  into  my  arms.  On  his  recovering, 
before  I  could  ask  him  the  question  nearest  to  my  heart, 
it  was  answered.  "They  are  safe — all  safe,"  said  he.  "On 
the  landing  of  fresh  troops  from  Italy,  the  first  efforts  of 
the  legions  were  directed  against  the  fortress.  The  pi- 
rates, in  return  for  the  victory  to  which  you  led  them,  had 
set  me  at  liberty.  I  made  my  way  through  the  enemy's 
posts ;  Eleazar,  ever  generous  and  noble,  received  me,  after 
all  my  wanderings,  with  the  heart  of  a  father;  and  we 
determined  on  defending  this  glorious  trophy  of  your 
heroism  to  the  last  man.  But  with  the  wisdom  that  never 
failed  him,  he  knew  what  must  be  the  result,  and  at  the 
very  commencement  of  the  siege,  sent  away  your  family 
to  Alexandria,  where  they  might  be  secure  of  protection 
from  our  kindred." 

"And  they  went  by  sea?"  I  asked,  shudderingly,  while 
the  whole  terrible  truth  dawned  upon  my  mind.  They 
were  in  the  fleet  which  I  had  followed. 

"It  was  the  only  course.  The  country  was  filled  with 
the  enemy." 

"Then  they  are  lost!  Wretched  father,  now  no  father! 
— man  marked  by  destiny ! — the  blow  has  fallen  at  last ! 
They  perished — 1  saw  them  perish.  Their  dying  shrieks 
rang  in  these  ears.  I  was  their  destroyer.  From  first  to 
last  I  have  been  their  undoing !" 

Jubal  looked  on  me  with  astonishment.  My  adopted 
daughter,  without  any  idle  attempt  at  consolation,  only 
bathed  my  hand  with  her  tears.  "There  must  be  some 
misconception  in  all  this,"  said  Jubal  "Before  we  left 


BALAfHlEL.  307 

that  accursed  dungeon,  they  had  embarked  with  a  crowd 
of  females  from  the  surrounding  country,  in  one  of  the 
annual  fleets  for  Egypt.  Before  we  sailed  from  the  pirates' 
cavern  they  were  probably  safe  in  Alexandria." 

"No !  I  saw  them  perish.  I  heard  their  dying  cry,  I 
drove  them  to  destruction,"  was  the  only  voice  that  my 
withering  lips  could  utter.  I  remembered  the  horrors  of 
the  storm;  the  desperate  efforts  of  the  merchant  galley  to 
escape ;  its  fatal  disappearance.  Faintly,  and  with  many  a 
successive  agony,  I  gave  the  melancholy  reasons  for  my 
belief.  My  auditors  listened  with  fear  and  trembling. 

"There  is  now  no  use  in  sorrow,"  said  Jubal  sternly, 
"and  as  little  in  struggle.  I  too  have  lived,  until  the  light 
that  lightened  my  dreary  hours  is  extinguished.  I  too  have 
known  the  extremities  of  passion.  If  suffering  could  have 
atoned  for  my  offences,  I  have  suffered.  A  thousand  years 
of  existence  could  not  touch  me  more.  Here  let  us  die." 
He  unsheathed  his  poniard. 

My  young  companion,  in  the  anxiety  of  the  moment,  for- 
getting the  presence  of  a  stranger,  flung  back  the  veil 
which  had  hitherto  covered  her  face  and  figure,  and  clasp- 
ing my  raised  arm,  said  in  a  tone,  so  low,  yet  penetrating, 
that  it  seemed  the  whisper  of  my  own  conscience — 

"Has  death  no  fears?"  She  fixed  her  eyes  on  me,  and 
waited  breathless  for  the  answer. 

"Daughter  of  beauty,"  said  Jubal,  as  a  smile  of  admira- 
tion played  on  his  sad  features,  "thoughts  like  ours  are  not 
for  the  lovely  and  the  young.  May  the  Heaven  that  has 
stamped  that  countenance  be  your  protection  through 
many  a  year !  But  to  the  weary,  rest  is  happiness,  not 
terror.  Prince  of  Naphtali,  this  fair  maiden's  presence 
forbids  darker  thoughts;  we  must  speed  her  on  her  way 
to  security,  before  we  can  think  of  ourselves  and  our  mis- 
fortunes." 

"The  daughter  of  Ananus,"  said  she,  in  a  tone  of  heroic 
pride,  "has  no  earthly  fears.  The  boldest  warrior  of  Israel 
never  died  more  boldly  than  that  venerable  parent.  Within 
his  sacred  robes  was  the  heart  of  a  soldier,  a  patriot,  and  a 
king.  Let  me  die  for  a  cause  like  his;  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar,  let  my  blood  be  poured  out  for  my  country;  let  this 
feeble  form  sink  in  the  ruins  of  the  Temple ;  and  death  will 
be  of  all  welcome  things  the  most  welcome.  But  I  would 


308  &ALATBIEL. 

not  die  for  a  fantasy,  for  idleness,  for  nothing.  Put  up  that 
weapon,  warrior,  and  let  us  go  forth,  and  see  whether  great 
things  are  not  yet  to  be  done." 

She  significantly  pointed  towards  Jerusalem. 

"It  is  too  late,"  said  Jubal,  glancing  with  a  sigh  at  his 
own  wasted  form. 

"What  ?"  said  the  heroine ;  "is  it  too  late  to  be  virtuous, 
but  not  too  late  to  be  guilty  ?  too  late  to  resist  the  enemies 
of  our  country,  but  not  too  late  to  make  ourselves  worthless 
to  our  holy  cause?  If  Heaven  demands  an  account  of 
every  wasted  talent  and  misspent  hour,  what  fearful  ac- 
count will  be  theirs  who  make  all  talents  and  all  hours 
useless  at  a  blow?" 

"Maiden,  you  have  not  known  what  it  is  to  lose  every- 
thing that  made  earth  a  place  of  hope,"  said  I,  gazing  with 
wonder  and  pity  on  the  fine  enthusiasm  which  the  world  is 
so  fatally  empowered  to  destroy.  "May  not  the  tired  trav- 
eller hasten  to  the  end  of  his  journey  without  a  crime  ?" 

"May  not  the  slave,"  said  Jubal,  "weary  of  his  chain, 
escape  unchidden  from  his  captivity?" 

"And  may  not  the  soldier  quit  his  post,  when  caprice 
disgusts  him  with  his  duty  ?"  was  the  maiden's  answer,  with 
a  lofty  look.  "Or,  may  not  the  child  break  loose  from  the 
place  of  instruction,  and  plead  his  dislike  to  discipline  ?  As 
well  may  man,  placed  here  for  the  service  of  the  highest  of 
beings,  plead  his  own  narrow  will  against  the  supreme 
command;  daringly  charge  Heaven  with  the  injustice  of 
petting  him  a  task  above  his  strength;  and  madly  insult 
its  power,  under  the  petext  of  relying  on  its  compassion." 

She  paused,  as  if  surprised  at  her  own  earnestness,  and 
blushing  said — "This  wisdom  is  not  my  own.  It  was  the 
last  gift  of  an  illustrious  parent,  when,  in  my  agony  at 
the  sight  of  his  mortal  wounds,  I  longed  to  follow  him. 
'Live,'  said  he,  'while  you  can  live  with  virtue.  The  God 
who  has  placed  us  on  earth  best  knows  when  and  how  to 
recall  "as.  If  self-destruction  were  no  crime  in  one  in- 
stance, it  would  be  no  crime  to  universal  mankind;  the 
whole  iTame  of  society  would  be  overthrown  by  a  permis- 
sion to  evade  its  duties,  on  the  easy  penalty  of  dying.  Our 
obligations  to  country,  family,  man,  and  Heaven,  would 
bo  perpetually  flung  off.  if  they  were  to  be  held  at  the  ca- 
price of  human  nature." 


SALATHIEL.  309 

Jubal  looked  intently  on  the  young  oracle;  and,  though 
bending  with  Oriental  deference,  was  yet  unconvinced !  "Is 
there  to  be  no  end  to  the  mind's  anxiety  but  the  tardy 
decay  of  the  frame?" 

Naomi  turned  to  me  with  a  look  imploring  my  aid.  But 
I  was  broken  down  with  the  tidings  that  had  now  reached 
me.  Jubal  wrapped  his  cloak  round  him,  and  was  striding 
into  the  shadow  of  the  ruin.  Naomi,  terrified  at  the  idea 
of  death,  seized  the  corner  of  his  mantle.  "Will  you  shrink 
from  the  evils  of  life,"  she  adjured,  "and  yet  have  the 
dreadful  courage  to  defy  the  wrath  of  Heaven?  Shall 
worms  like  us,  shall  creatures  covered  with  weaknesses  and 
sins,  whose  only  hope  must  be  in  mercy,  commit  a  crime 
that  by  its  very  nature  disclaims  supplication,  and  makes 
repentance  impossible  ?" 

With  the  energy  of  terror  she  threw  back  the  folds  of 
the  cloak,  and  arrested  the  hand,  with  the  dagger  already 
uplifted.  She  led  back  the  reluctant,  yet  unresisting,  step, 
and  said  in  a  voice  still  trembling:  "Prince  of  Naphtali, 
save  your  brother !"  I  held  out  my  arms  to  Jubal ;  the 
sternness  of  his  soul  was  past,  and  he  fell  upon  my  neck. 
Naomi  stood,  exulting  in  her  triumph,  with  the  counte- 
nance that  an  angel  might  wear  at  the  return  of  a  sinner. 

"Prince  of  Naphtali,"  said  she,  "if  those  who  were  dear 
to  you  have  perished,  which  Heaven  avert !  you  may  have 
been  thus  but  the  more  marked  out  for  the  instrument  of 
solemn  services  to  Israel.  The  virtues  that  might  have 
languished  in  the  happiness  of  home  may  be  summoned 
into  vigor  for  mankind.  Warrior,"  and  she  turned  her 
glowing  smile  on  Jubal,  "this  is  not  the  time  for  valor 
and  experience  to  shrink  from  the  side  of  our  country. 
Perfidy  may  still  be  repelled  by  patriotism;  violence  put 
down  by  wisdom;  the  power  of  the  people  roused  by  the 
example  of  a  hero ;  even  the  last  spark  of  life  may  be  made 
splendid  by  mingling  with  the  last  glories  of  the  people  of 
God." 

JubaPs  wasted  cheek  reddened  with  the  theme;  but  his 
emotion  was  too  deep  for  language.  He  led  the  way ;  we 
passed  in  silence  through  the  silent  streets;  and,  without 
seeing  the  face  of  a  human  being,  reached  the  dismantle^ 
gates  of  Masada, 


310  8ALATHIEL. 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

JUBAL  guided  us  down  the  declivities  among  ramparts 
and  trenches;  and,  after  long  windings,  where  every  step 
reminded  me  of  havoc,  brought  us  to  a  little  hamlet  in  the 
recesses  of  the  valley,  so  secluded  that  it  seemed  never  to 
have  heard  the  sound  of  war.  The  thunder  of  the  falling 
masses  of  fortification  as  the  fire  reached  their  props  kept 
us  waking  all  night,  and  I  arose  from  my  humble  couch 
to  taste  the  delicious  air  that  makes  the  summer  niglit 
of  Asia  the  time  of  refreshing  alike  to  the  frame  and  to 
the  mind.  I  found  Jubal  already  abroad  and  gazing  on  the 
summit  of  the  mountain,  where  the  sullen  glare  of  the 
sky  and  the  crash  of  buildings  showed  that  the  work  of 
devastation  was  rapidly  going  on. 

He  gave  me  some  details  of  the  siege.  The  Romans 
had  found  the  fortress  so  hazardous  to  the  advance  of 
their  reinforcements,  that  its  possession  was  essential  to 
the  conquest  of  Judea.  Cestius,  my  old  antagonist,  so- 
licited the  command  to  wipe  off  his  disgrace,  and  the 
whole  force  of  the  legions  was  brought  up.  But  the  gen- 
eralship of  Eleazar  and  the  intrepidity  of  the  garrison 
baffled  every  assault,  with  tremendous  loss  to  the  enemy. 
The  siege  was  next  turned  into  a  blockade.  Famine  and 
disease  were  more  formidable  than  the  sword;  and  the 
brave  defenders  were  reduced  to  a  number  scarcely  able 
to  man  the  walls. 

"We  now,"  said  Jubal,  "fought  the  battle  of  despair: 
we  saw  the  enemy's  camp  crowded  every  day  with  fresh 
troops,  and  the  provisions  of  the  whole  country  brought 
among  them  in  profusion,  while  we  had  not  a  morsel  to 
eat,  while  our  fountains  ran  dry,  and  while  our  few  troops 
were  harassed  with  mortal  fatigue.  Yet  no  man  thought 
of  surrender.  Eleazar's  courage — a  courage  sustained  by 
higher  thoughts  than  those  of  the  soldier,  the  fortitude 
of  piety  and  prayer — inspired  us  all;  and  we  went  to  our 
melancholy  duties  with  the  calmness  of  men  to  whom  the 
grave  was  inevitable. 

"At  last,  when  our  reduced  numbers  gave  the  enemy  a 
hope,  we  were  attacked  by  their  whole  force.  But,  if  they 
expected  to  conquer  us  at  their  ease,  never  were  they  more 
deceived.  When  the  walls  gave  way  before  their  ma* 


fSALATHIEL.  311 

chines,  they  were  fought  from  street  to  street,  from  house 
to  house,  from  chamber  to  chamber.  Eleazar,  active  as 
wise,  was  everywhere;  we  fought  in  ruins — in  fire.  Mul- 
titudes of  the  enemy  perished;  and  more  deaths  were 
given  by  the  knife  than  the  spear,  for  our  arms  were 
long  since  exhausted.  The  last  effort  was  made  on  the 
spot  where  you  found  me.  When  every  defence  was  mas- 
tered by  the  perpetual  supply  of  fresh  troops,  Eleazar, 
passing  through  the  subterranean  to  attack  the  Roman 
rear,  left  me  in  command  of  the  few  who  survived.  We 
intrenched  ourselves  in  the  armory.  For  three  days  we 
fought,  without  tasting  food,  without  an  hour's  sleep, 
without  laying  the  weapons  out  of  our  hands.  At  length 
the  final  assault  was  given.  In  the  midst  of  it  we  heard 
shouts  which  told  us  that  our  friends  had  made  the 
concerted  attack,  but  we  were  too  few  and  feeble  to  sec- 
ond it.  The  shouts  died  away — we  were  overpowered ;  and 
my  first  sensation  of  returning  life  was  the  combined 
agony  of  famine,  wounds,  and  suffocation,  under  the 
ruins  that  I  then  thought  my  living  grave." 

"By  dawn,"  said  I,  "we  must  set  out  for  Jerusalem.'* 

"It  has  been  closely  invested,"  was  the  answer,  "for  the 
last  three  months;  and  famine  and  faction  are  doing 
their  worst  within  the  walls.  Titus  is  without,  at  the 
head  of  a  hundred  thousand  of  the  legionaries  and  aux- 
iliaries. To  enter  will  be  next  to  impossible;  and  when 
once  entered  what  will  be  before  you  but  the  madness 
of  civil  discord,  and  finally,  death  by  the  hands  of  an 
enemy  utterly  infuriated  against  our  nation?" 

"To  Jerusalem,  at  all  risks,"  I  exclaimed;  "my  fate  is 
mingled  with  that  of  the  last  stronghold  of  our  fallen 
people.  What  matters  it  to  one  whose  roots  of  happi- 
ness are  cut  up  like  mine,  in  what  spot  he  struggles  with 
man  and  fortune?  As  a  son  of  Judea,  my  powers  are 
due  to  her  cause,  and  every  drop  of  my  blood  shed  for 
any  other  would  be  treason  to  the  memory  of  my  fathers. 
The  dawn  finds  me  on  my  way  to  Jerusalem." 

"Spoken  like  a  prince  of  Naphtali,"  sighed  Jubal;  "but 
there  I  must  not  follow  you.  The  course  of  glory  is  cut 
off  for  me;  alone,  something  may  still  be  done  by  col- 
lecting the  fugitives  of  the  tribes  and  harassing  the 
Roman  communications.  But,  Jerusalem,  though  every 


312  8ALATHIEL. 

stone  of  her  walls  is  precious  to  my  soul,  must  not  re- 
ceive my  guilty  steps.  I  have  horrid  recollections  of 
things  seen  and  done  there.  Onias,  that  wily  hypocrite, 
will  be  there,  to  fill  me  with  visions  of  terror.  There  too 
are — others."  He  was  silent;  but  suddenly  resuming  his 
firmness,  "I  have  no  hostility  to  Constantius;  I  even 
honor  him;  but  my  spirit  is  still  too  feverish  to  bear  his 
presence — I  must  live  and  die  far  from  all  whom  I  have 
ever  known." 

He  hid  his  face  in  his  mantle;  but  the  agitation  of  his 
form  showed  his  anguish,  more  than  clamorous  grief.  He 
walked  forth  into  the  darkness.  I  was  ignorant  of  his 
purpose,  and  lingered  long  for  his  return — I  saw  him  no 
more. 

Disturbed  and  pained  by  his  loss,  I  had  scarcely  thrown 
myself  on  the  cottage  floor,  my  only  bed,  when  I  was 
roused  by  the  cries  of  the  village.  A  squadron  of  Roman 
cavalry  marching  to  Jerusalem  had  entered,  and  was 
taking  up  its  quarters  for  the  night.  The  peasantry  could 
make  no  resistance,  and  attempted  none.  I  had  only 
time  to  call  to  my  adopted  daughter  to  rise,  when  our 
hut  was  occupied,  and  we  were  made  prisoners. 

This  was  an  unexpected  blow;  yet  it  was  one  to  which, 
on  second  thoughts,  I  became  reconciled.  In  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  the  country,  travelling  was  totally  inse- 
cure; and  even  to  obtain  a  conveyance  of  any  kind  was  a 
matter  of  extreme  difficulty.  The  roving  plunderers  who 
hovered  in  the  train  of  the  camp  were,  of  all  plunderers, 
the  most  merciless;  while,  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
legionaries,  we  were  at  least  sure  of  an  escort ;  I  might 
obtain  some  useful  information  of  their  affairs,  and, 
once  in  sight  of  the  city,  might  escape  from  the  Roman 
lines  with  more  ease  as  a  prisoner,  than  I  could  pass  them, 
as  an  enemy. 

The  cavalry  moved  at  daybreak;  and  before  night  we 
saw  in  the  horizon  the  hills  which  surround  Jerusalem. 
We  had  full  evidence  of  our  approach  to  the  centre  of 
struggle,  by  the  devastation  that  follows  the  track  of 
the  best-disciplined  army;  groves  and  orchards  cut  down, 
cornfields  trampled,  cottages  burnt,  gardens  and  home- 
steads ravaged.  Further  on,  we  traversed  the  encamp- 
ments of  the  auxiliaries,  barbarians  of  every  color  and 
language  within  the  limits  of  the  mightiest  of  empireSi 


SALATHIEL.  313 

To  the  soldier  of  civilized  nations,  war  is  a  new  state 
of  existence;  to  the  soldier  of  barbarism,  war  is  but  a 
more  active  species  of  his  daily  life.  It  requires  no  di- 
vorce from  his  old  habits,  and  even  encourages  his  old  ob- 
jects, cares,  and  pleasures.  We  found  the  Arab,  the  Ger- 
man, the  Scythian,  and  the  Ethiop,  hunting,  carousing, 
trafficking,  and  quarrelling,  as  if  they  had  never  stirred 
from  their  native  regions.  The  hordes  brought  with  them 
their  families,  their  cattle  and  their  trade.  In  the  rear  of 
every  auxiliary  camp  was  a  regular  mart,  crowded  with 
all  kinds  of  dealers.  Through  the  fields  the  barbarians 
were  following  the  sports  of  home.  Trains  of  falconers 
were  flying  their  birds  at  the  wild  pigeon  and  heron. 
Half-naked  horsemen  were  running  races,  without  saddle 
or  rein,  on  horses  as  wild  and  swift  as  the  antelope.  Groups 
were  lying  under  the  palm  groves  asleep,  with  their  spears 
fixed  at  their  heads ;  others  were  seen  busy  decorating  them- 
selves for  battle ;  crowds  were  dancing,  gaming,  and  drink- 
ing. 

As  we  advanced,  we  could  hear  the  variety  of  clam- 
ors and  echoes  that  belong  to  barbarian  war — the  bray- 
ing of  savage  horns,  the  roars  of  mirth,  rage,  and  feast- 
ing; the  shouts  of  clans  moving  up  to  reinforce  the  be- 
siegers; the  screams  and  lamentations  of  the  innumerable 
women,  as  the  wains  and  litters  brought  back  the  wounded ; 
the  barbarian  bowlings  over  the  hasty  grave  of  some  chief- 
tain; the  ferocious  revelry  of  the  discoverers  of  plunder, 
and  the  inextinguishable  sorrows  of  the  captives. 

We  passed  through  some  miles  of  this  boisterous  and 
bustling  scene,  in  which  even  a  Eoman  escort  was  scarcely 
a  sufficient  security.  The  barbarians  thronged  round  us, 
brandished  their  spears  over  our  heads,  rode  their  horses 
full  gallop  against  us,  and  exhausted  the  whole  language 
of  scorn,  ridicule,  and  wrath,  upon  our  helpless  condi- 
tion. 

But  the  clamor  gradually  died  away,  and  we  entered 
upon  another  region — a  zone  of  silence  and  solitude,  in- 
terposed between  the  dangerous  riot  of  barbarism  and 
the  severe  regularity  of  the  legions.  Far  within  this  circle, 
we  reached  the  Roman  camp,  the  world  of  disciplined  war ! 
The  setting  sun  threw  his  flame  on  the  long  vistas  of 
shield  and  helmet  drawn  put,  according  to  custom,  for 


314  SALATHIEL. 

the  hour  of  exercise  before  nightfall.  The  tribunes  were 
on  horseback  in  front  of  the  cohorts,  putting  them  through 
that  boundless  variety  of  admirable  movements,  in  which 
no  soldiery  were  so  dexterous  as  those  of  Rome.  But  all 
was  done  with  characteristic  silence.  No  sound  was  heard 
but  the  measured  tramp  of  the  manoeuvre,  and  the  voice 
of  the  tribune.  The  sight  was  at  once  absorbing  to  the 
eye  of  one,  like  me,  an  enthusiast  in  soldiership;  and  ap- 
palling to  the  lover  of  his  country.  Before  me  was  the 
great  machine,  the  resistless  energy,  that  had  levelled  the 
strength  of  the  most  renowned  kingdoms.  With  the  feel- 
ing of  a  man  who  sees  the  tempest  at  hand;  in  the  imme- 
diate terror  of  the  bolt,  I  could  yet  gaze  with  wonder  and 
admiration  at  the  grandeur  of  the  thunder-cloud !  Before 
me  was  at  once  the  perfection  of  power  and  the  perfection 
of  discipline.  Here  were  no  rambling  crowds  of  retainers, 
no  hurrying  of  troops  startled  by  sudden  rumor,  no  mil- 
itary clamors.  All  was  calm,  regular,  and  grand.  In 
the  centre  of  the  most  furious  war  ever  waged,  I  might 
have  thought  that  I  saw  but  a  summer  camp  in  an  Italian 
plain. 

As  the  night  fell,  the  legions  saluted  the  parting  sun 
with  homage,  according  to  a  custom  which  they  had 
learned  in  their  eastern  campaign.  Sounds,  less  of  war 
than  of  worship,  arose;  flutes  breathed  in  low  and  sweet 
harmonies  from  the  lines;  and  this  iron  soldiery,  bound 
on  the  business  of  extermination,  moved  to  their  tents  in 
the  midst  of  strains  made  to  wrap  the  heart  in  softness 
and  solemnity. 

I  rose  at  dawn.  But  was  I  in  a  land  of  enchantment? 
I  looked  for  the  immense  camp — it  had  vanished.  A  few 
soldiers  collecting  the  prisoners  sleeping  about  the  field, 
were  all  that  remained  of  an  army.  Our  guard  explain" 
the  wonder.  An  attack  on  the  trenches,  in  which  the 
besiegers  had  been  driven  in  with  serious  loss,  determined 
Titns  to  bring  up  his  whole  force.  The  troops  had  moved) 
with  that  habitual  silence  which  eluded  almost  the  waking 
ear.  They  were  now  beyond  the  hills,  and  the  hour  was 
come  at  which  the  prisoners  were  ordered  to  follow  them. 
But,  where  was  the  daughter  of  Ananus?  I  had  placed 
her  in  a  tent,  with  some  captive  females  of  our  nation. 
The  tent  was  struck,  and  its  inmates  were  gone !  On  the 


SALATHIEL.  315 

spot  where  it  stood,  a  flock  of  sheep  were  already  grazing, 
with  a  Eoman  soldier  leaning  drowsily  on  his  spear,  for 
their  shepherd. 

To  what  alarms  might  not  this  fair  girl  be  exposed? 
Dubious  and  distressed,  I  followed  the  guard,  in  the 
hope  of  discovering  the  fate  of  an  innocent  and  lovely 
being,  who  seemed,  like  myself,  marked  for  misfortune. 

In  this  march  we  traversed  almost  the  whole  circuit 
of  the  hills  surrounding  Jerusalem;  and  I  thus  had,  for 
three  days,  the  opportunity  that  I  longed  for,  of  seeing 
the  nature  of  the  force  with  which  we  were  to  contend. 
The  troops  were  admirably  armed.  There  was  nothing 
for  superfluity;  yet  those  who  conceived  the  system,  knew 
the  value  of  show;  and  the  equipment  of  the  legions  was 
superb.  The  helmets,  cuirasses,  and  swords,  were  fre- 
quently inlaid  with  the  precious  metals;  and  the  superior 
officers  rode  richly  caparisoned  chargers,  purchased  at  an 
enormous  price  from  the  finest  studs  of  Europe  and  Asia. 
The  common  soldier  was  proud  of  the  brightness  of  his 
shield  and  helmet :  on  duty  both  were  covered ;  but  on 
their  festivals  the  most  cheering  moment  was  when  the 
order  was  given  to  uncase  their  arms.  Then,  nothing 
could  be  more  magnificent  than  the  aspect  of  the  legion. 

One  striking  source  of  its  pomp  was  the  multitude  of 
its  banners.  Every  emblem  that  mythology  could  feign, 
every  animal,  every  memorial  connected  with  the  history 
of  soldiership  and  Eome,  glittered  above  the  forest  of 
spears.  Gilded  serpents,  wolves,  lions,  gods,  genii,  stars, 
diadems,  imperial  busts,  and  the  eagle  paramount  over 
all,  were  mingled  with  vanes  of  purple  and  embroidery. 
The  most  showy  pageant  of  civil  life  was  dull  and  color- 
less to  the  crowded  splendor  of  the  Eoman  line. 

Their  system  of  manoeuvre  gave  this  magnificence  its 
full  development.  With  the  modern  armies  the  principle 
is  the  avoidance  of  fire.  With  the  ancient  armies,  the 
principle  was  the  concentration  of  force.  All  was  done 
by  impulse.  The  figure  by  which  the  greatest  weight  could 
be  thrown  against  the  enemy's  ranks,  was  the  secret  of 
victory.  The  subtlety  of  Italian  imagination,  enlight- 
ened by  Greek  science,  and  fertilized  by  the  experience  of 
universal  war,  was  occupied  in  the  discovery;  and  the 
field  exercise  of  the  legions  displayed  every  form,  into 


316  SALATHIEL. 

which  troops  could  be  shaped  for  victory.  The  Komans 
always  sought  to  fight  pitched  battles.  They  left  the 
minor  services  to  their  allies,  and  haughtily  reserved 
themselves  for  the  master  strokes  by  which  empires  are 
lost  or  won.  The  humbler  hostilities,  the  obscure  skir- 
mishings and  surprises,  they  disdained;  observing  that, 
while  "to  steal  upon  men  was  the  work  of  a  thief,  and  to 
butcher  them  was  the  habit  of  a  barbarian,  to  fight  them 
was  the  act  of  a  soldier." 


XLV. 

AT  the  close  of  a  weary  day  we  reached  our  final  station, 
upon  the  hill  of  Scopas,  seven  furlongs  from  Jerusalem. 
Bitter  memory  was  busy  with  me  there.  From  the  spot  on 
which  I  flung  myself  in  heaviness  of  heart,  huddled  among 
a  crowd  of  miserable  captives,  and  wishing  only  that  the 
evening  gathering  over  me  might  be  my  last,  I  had  once 
looked  upon  the  army  of  the  oppressors,  marching  into  my 
toils,  and  exulted  in  the  secure  glories  of  myself  and  my 
country.  But  the  prospect  now  beneath  the  eye  showed  only 
the  fiery  track  of  invasion.  The  pastoral  beauty  of  the 
plain  was  utterly  gone.  The  innumerable  garden-houses 
and  summer  dwellings  of  the  Jewish  nobles,  glowing  in 
every  variety  of  graceful  architecture,  among  vineyards  and 
depths  of  aromatic  foliage,  were  levelled  to  the  ground; 
and  the  gardens  were  turned  into  a  sandy  waste,  cut  up  by 
trenches  and  military  works  in  every  direction.  In  the 
midst  rose  the  great  Eoman  rampart,  which  Titus,  in  de- 
spair of  conquering  the  city  by  the  sword,  drew  round 
it  to  extinguish  its  last  hope  of  provisions  or  reinforce- 
ments ;  a  hideous  boundary,  within  which  all  was  to  be  the 
sepulchre. 

I  now  saw  Jerusalem  only  in  her  expiring  struggle. 
Others  have  given  the  history  of  that  most  memorable 
siege.  My  knowledge  was  limited  to  the  last  hideous  daya 
of  an  existence  long  declining,  and  finally  extinguished  in 
horrors  beyond  the  imagination  of  man. 

I  knew  her  follies,  her  ingratitude,  her  crimes :  but  the 
love  of  the  city  of  David  was  6"een  in  my  soul ;  her  lofty 
privileges,  the  proud  memory  of  those  who  had  made  her 


SALATH1EL.  317 

courts  glorious,  the  sage,  the  soldier,  and  the  prophet, 
lights  of  the  world,  to  which  the  boasted  illumination  of 
the  heathen  was  darkness,  filled  my  spirit  with  an  im- 
mortal homage.  I  loved  her  then — I  love  her  still. 

To  mingle  my  blood  with  that  of  my  perishing  country 
was  the  first  wish  of  my  heart.  But  I  was  under  the 
rigor  of  the  confinement  inflicted  on  the  Jewish  prisoners. 
My  rank  was  soon  known;  but,  while  it  produced  offers  of 
new  distinction  from  my  captors,  it  increased  their  vigi- 
lance. To  every  temptation  to  serve,  I  gave  the  same  de- 
nial, and  occupied  my  hours  in  devices  for  escape.  Mean- 
while, I  saw,  with  terror,  that  the  wall  of  circumvallation 
was  closing ;  and  that  a  short  period  must  place  an  impass- 
able barrier  between  me  and  the  city. 

I  was  aroused  at  midnight  by  the  roaring  of  one  of  those 
tempests  which  sometimes  break  in  so  fiercely  upon  an 
eastern  summer.  The  lightning  struck  the  tower  in  which 
I  was  confined,  and  I  found  myself  riding  on  a  pile  of  ruins. 
Escape,  in  the  midst  of  a  Roman  camp,  seemed  as  remote 
as  ever.  But  the  storm  which  shook  walls  made  its  way  at 
will  among  tents,  and  the  whole  encampment  was  broken 
up.  A  column  of  infantry  passed  where  I  was  extricating 
myself  from  the  ruins.  They  were  going  to  reinforce  the 
troops  in  the  trenches,  against  the  chance  of-  an  attack 
during  the  tempest.  I  followed  them.  The  night  was 
terrible.  The  lightning  that  blazed  with  frightful  vivid- 
ness, and  then  left  the  sky  to  tenfold  obscurity,  alone  led  us 
through  the  lines.  The  column  was  too  late,  and  it  found 
the  besieged  already  mounted  upon  the  walls  of  circumval- 
lation, and  flinging  it  down  in  huge  fragments.  The  as- 
sault and  defence  were  alike  desperate.  At  the  moment  of 
our  arrival,  the  night  had  grown  pitchy  dark,  and  the  only 
evidence  that  men  were  round  me  was  the  clang  of  arms. 

A  sudden  flash  showed  me  that  we  had  reached  the  foot 
of  the  rampart.  The  besieged,  carried  away  by  their  native 
impetuosity,  poured  down  in  crowds.  Their  leader,  cheer- 
ing them  on,  was  struck  by  a  lance  and  fell.  The  sight 
rallied  the  Romans.  I  felt  that  now  or  never  was  the  mo- 
ment for  my  escape.  I  rushed  in  front,  and  called  aloud 
my  name.  At  the  voice,  the  wounded  leader  uttered  a  cry 
which  I  well  knew.  I  caught  him  from  the  ground.  A 
gigantic  centurian  darted  forward,  and  grasped  my  robe. 


318  8ALATBIEL. 

Embarrassed  with  my  burden,  I  was  on  the  point  of  being 
dragged  back;  the  centurion's  sword  glittered  over  my 
head.  With  my  only  weapon,  a  stone,  I  struck  him  a 
furious  blow  on  the  forehead.  The  sword  fell  from  his 
grasp;  I  seized  it,  and  keeping  the  rest  at  bay,  and  in  the 
midst  of  shouts  from  my  countrymen,  leaped  the  trench, 
with  the  nobler  trophy  in  my  arms;  I  had  rescued  Con- 
stantius ! 

Jerusalem  was  now  verging  on  the  last  horrors.  I  could 
scarcely  find  my  way  through  her  ruins.  The  noble  build- 
ings were  destroyed  by  conflagration,  in  the  assaults  of  the 
various  factions.  The  monuments  of  our  kings  and  tribes 
were  lying  in  mutilation  at  my  feet.  Every  man  of  former 
eminence  was  gone..  Massacre  and  exile  had  been  the 
masters  of  the  higher  ranks;  and  even  the  accidental  dis- 
tinctions into  which  the  humbler  were  thrown  by  the  few 
past  years,  involved  a  fearful  purchase  of  public  hazard. 
Like  men  in  an  earthquake,  the  elevation  of  each  was  only 
a  sign  to  him  of  the  working  of  an  irresistible  principle  of 
ruin.  But  the  most  formidable  characteristic  was  the 
change  wrought  in  the  popular  mind. 

A  single  revolution  may  be  a  source  of  public  good ;  but 
a  succession  of  great  political  changes  is  always  fatal,  alike 
to  public  and  private  virtue.  The  sense  of  honor  dies,  in 
the  fierce  pressures  of  personal  struggle.  Humanity  dies, 
in  the  sight  of  hourly  violences.  Conscience  dies,  in  the 
conflict  where  personal  safety  is  so  often  endangered,  that 
its  preservation  at  length  usurps  the  mind.  Eeligion  dies, 
where  the  religious  man  is  so  often  the  victim  of  the  un- 
principled. Violence  and  vice  are  soon  found  to  be  the 
natural  instruments  of  triumph  in  a  war  of  the  passions; 
and  the  more  relentless  atrocity  carries  the  day,  until 
selfishness — the  mother  of  treachery,  rapine,  and  carnage — 
is  the  paramount  principle.  Then  the  nation  perishes,  or 
is  sent  forth  in  madness  and  misery,  an  object  of  terror  and 
infection,  to  propagate  evil  through  the  world. 

The  very  features  of  the  popular  physiognomy  were 
changed.  The  natural  vividness  of  the  countenance  was 
there,  but  hardened  by  habitual  ferocity.  I  was  surrounded 
by  a  multitude,  in  each  of  whom  I  was  compelled  to  see  the 
assassin.  The  keen  eye  scowled  with  cruelty;  the  cheek 
wore  the  alternate  flush  and  paleness  of  desperate  thoughts. 


&ALATHIEL.  319 

The  hurried  gatherings — the  quick  quarrel — the  loud  blas- 
phemy, told  me  the  infuriate  temper  that  had  fallen,  for 
the  last  curse,  on  Jerusalem.  Scarcely  a  man  passed  me 
of  whom  I  could  not  have  said,  "There  goes  one  from  a 
murder  to  a  murder." 

But  even  more  open  evidences  startled  me,  accustomed 
as  I  was  to  scenes  of  military  violence.  I  saw  men  stabbed, 
in  familiar  greeting  in  the  streets ;  mansions  set  on  fire  and 
burned  in  the  face  of  day,  with  their  inmates  screaming  for 
help,  and  yet  unhelped;  hundreds  slain  in  rabble  tumults, 
of  which  no  one  knew  the  origin.  The  streets  were  covered 
with  the  wrecks  of  pillage,  sumptuous  furniture  plundered 
from  the  mansions  of  the  great,  and  plundered  for  the  mere 
love  of  ruin;  mingled  with  the  more  hideous  wrecks  of 
man — unburied  bodies,  left  to  whiten  in  the  blast,  or  to 
be  torn  by  the  dogs. 

Three  factions  divided  Jerusalem,  even  while  the  Eoman 
battering-rams  were  shaking  her  colossal  towers;  three  ar- 
mies fought  night  and  day  within  the  city.  Streets  under- 
mined, houses  battered  down,  granaries  burned,  wells  pois- 
oned, the  perpetual  shower  of  death  upon  each  other  from 
the  roofs,  made  the  external  hostility  trivial;  and  the  Eo- 
mans  required  only  patience  to  have  been  bloodless  masters 
of  a  city  which  yet  they  would  have  found  only  a  tomb 
of  its  people. 

I  wandered,  day  by  day,  an  utter  stranger  through  Jeru- 
salem. All  the  familiar  faces  were  gone.  At  an  early 
period  of  the  war  many  of  the  higher  ranks,  foreseeing  the 
event,  had  left  the  city ;  at  a  later,  my  victory  over  Cestius, 
by  driving  back  the  enemy,  had  given  a  free  passage  to  a 
crowd  of  others.  It  was  at  that  time  remarked  that  the 
crowd  were  chiefly  Christians;  and  a  singular  prophecy  of 
their  Master  was  declared  to  be  the  warning  of  their  escape. 
It  is  certain  that,  of  his  followers,  including  many  even  of 
our  priests  and  learned  men,  scarcely  one  remained.  They 
said  that  the  evil  day,  menaced  by  the  Divine  Wisdom, 
through  Moses — (may  he  rest  in  glory!)  was  come;  that 
the  death  of  their  Master  was  the  consummate  crime ;  and 
that  the  Romans,  the  predicted  nation  of  destroyers,  the 
people  "of  a  strange  speech,"  flying  on  "eagle  wings  from 
the  ends  of  the  earth,"  were  already  commissioned  against 
a  land  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  Messiah, 


320  XALATHIEL 

Fatally  was  the  word  of  the  great  prophet  of  Israel  ac- 
complished^ fearfully  fell  the  sword,  to  smite  away  root 
and  branch;  solemnly,  and  by  a  hand  which  scorned  the 
strength  of  man,  was  the  deluge  of  ruin  let  loose  against  the 
throne  of  David.  And  still,  through  almost  two  thousand 
years,  the  flood  of  desolation  is  at  the  full ;  no  mountain- 
top  is  seen  rising  above;  no  spot  is  left  clear  for  the  sole 
of  the  Jewish  foot;  no  dove  returns  with  the  olive. 

Eternal  King,  shall  this  be  forever?  Wilt  thou  utterly 
reject  the  children  of  him  whom  thy  right  hand  brought 
from  the  land  of  the  idolater  ?  Wilt  thou  forever  hide  thy 
glory  from  the  tribes  whom  it  led  through  the  burning 
wilderness?  Wilt  thou  never  raise  the  broken  kingdom  of 
thy  servant  Israel?  Still  we  wander  in  darkness,  the  ten- 
ants of  a  prison,  whose  chains  we  feel  at  every  step;  the 
scoff  of  the  idolater;  the  captive  of  the  infidel.  Have  we 
not  abided  without  king  or  priest,  or  ephod  or  teraphim, 
"many  days" — when  are  those  days  to  be  at  an  end  ? 

Yet,  is  not  the  captivity  at  last  about  to  close?  Is  not 
the  trumpet  at  the  lip  to  summon  thy  chosen?  Are  not 
the  broken  tribes  now  awaiting  but  thy  command  to  come 
from  the  desert — from  the  dungeon — from  the  mine — like 
the  light  from  darkness?  I  gaze  upon  the  stars,  and 
think,  countless  and  glorious  as  they  are,  such  shall  yet  be 
thy  multitude  and  thy  splendor,  people  of  the  undone! 
The  promise  of  the  King  of  kings  is  fulfilling;  and  even 
now,  to  my  withered  eyes,  to  my  struggling  prayer,  to  the 
deeper  agonies  of  a  supplication  that  no  tongue  can  utter, 
there  is  a  vision  and  an  answer.  On  the  flint,  worn  by  my 
knees,  I  hear  the  midnight  voice;  and,  weeping,  wait  for 
the  day  that  will  come,  though  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

MY  first  object  was  to  ascertain  the  fate  of  my  family. 
From  Constantius  I  could  learn  nothing;  for  the  severity 
of  his  wound  had  reduced  him  to  such  a  state  that  he 
recognized  no  one.  I  sat  by  him  day  after  day,  watching 
with  bitter  solicitude,  for  the  return  of  his  senses.  He 
raved  continually  of  his  wife,  and  of  every  other  name  that 


SALATHIEL.  321 

I  loved.  The  affecting  eloquence  of  his  appeals  sometimes 
plunged  me  into  the  deepest  depression ;  sometimes  drove 
me  out  to  seek  relief  from  them  even  in  the  horrors  of  the 
streets.  I  was  the  most  solitary  of  men.  In  those  melan- 
choly wanderings,  none  spoke  to  me ;  I  spoke  to  none.  The 
kinsmen  whom  I  had  left  under  the  command  of  my  brave 
son  were  slain  or  dispersed;  and  on  the  night  when  I  saw 
him  warring  with  his  native  ardor,  the  men  whom  he  led 
to  the  foot  of  the  rampart  were  an  accidental  band,  excited 
by  his  brilliant  intrepidity,  to  choose  him  at  the  instant  for 
their  captain.  In  sorrow,  indeed,  had  I  entered  Jeru- 
salem. 

The  devastation  of  the  city  was  enormous  during  its 
tumults.  The  great  factions  were  reduced  to  two;  but  in 
the  struggle  a  large  portion  of  the  Temple  had  been  burned. 
The  stately  chambers  of  the  priests  were  dust  and  embers. 
The  cloisters  which  surrounded  the  sanctuary  were  beaten 
down,  or  left  naked  to  the  visitation  of  the  seasons,  which 
now,  as  by  the  peculiar  wrath  of  heaven,  had  assumed  a 
fierce  and  ominous  inclemency.  Tremendous  bursts  of  tem- 
pest constantly  shook  the  city;  and  the  popular  mind  was 
kept  in  perpetual  alarm  at  the  accidents  which  followed 
those  storms.  Fires  were  frequently  caused  by  the  light- 
ning ;  deluges  of  rain  flooded  the  streets,  and,  falling  on  the 
shattered  roofs,  increased  the  misery  of  their  famishing 
inhabitants;  the  sudden  severity  of  winter  in  the  midst  of 
spring,  added  to  the  sufferings  of  a  people  doubly  unpro- 
vided to  encounter  it  by  its  unexpectedness  and  by  their 
necessary  exposure  on  the  battlements  and  in  the  field. 

Within  the  walls  all  bore  the  look  of  a  grave,  and  even 
that  grave  shaken  by  some  great  convulsion  of  nature. 
From  the  battlements  the  sight  was  absolute  despair.  The 
Eoman  camp  covered  the  hills,  and  we  could  see  the  soldiery 
sharpening  the  very  lances  that  were  to  drink  our  blood. 
The  fires  of  their  night-watches  lighted  up  the  horizon 
round.  We  hourly  heard  the  sound  of  their  trumpets  and 
their  shouts,  as  the  sheep  in  the  fold  might  hear  the  roar- 
ing of  the  lion  and  the  tiger,  ready  to  leap  their  feeble 
boundary.  Yet  the  valor  of  the  people  was  never  wearied 
out.  The  vast  Mound,  whose  circle  was  to  shut  us  up 
from  the  help  of  man,  or  the  hope  of  escape,  was  the  grand 
object  of  attack  and  defence ;  and,  though  thousands  of  my 


322  SALATHIEL. 

countrymen  covered  the  ground  at  its  foot  with  their 
corpses,  the  Jew  was  still  ready  to  rush  on  the  Roman 
spear.  This  valor  was  spontaneous,  for  subordination  had 
long  been  at  an  end.  The  names  of  John  of  Giscala,  and 
Simon,  influential  as  they  were  in  the  earlier  periods  of 
the  war,  had  lost  their  force  in  the  civil  fury  and  desperate 
pressures  of  the  siege.  No  leaders  were  acknowledged,  but 
hatred  of  the  enemy,  iron  fortitude,  and  a  determination 
not  to  survive  the  fall  of  Jerusalem ! 

In  this  furious  warfare  I  took  my  share  with  the  rest; 
handled  the  spear,  and  fought  and  watched  without  think- 
ing of  any  distinction  of  rank.  My  military  experience, 
and  the  personal  strength  which  enabled  me  to  render  prom- 
inent services  in  those  desultory  attacks,  often  excited  our 
warriors  to  offer  me  the  command ;  but  ambition  was  dead 
within  me! 

I  was  one  day  sitting  beside  the  bed  of  Constantius,  and 
bitterly  absorbed  in  gazing  on  what  I  thought  the  progress 
of  death,  when  I  heard  a  universal  outcry,  more  melan- 
choly than  human  voices  seemed  ever  made  to  utter.  My 
first  thought  was  that  the  enemy  had  forced  the  gates.  I 
found  the  streets  filled  with  crowds  hurrying  forward  with- 
out any  apparent  direction,  but  all  exhibiting  a  sorrow 
amounting  to  agony;  wringing  their  hands,  beating  their 
bosoms,  tearing  their  hair,  and  casting  dust  and  ashes  on 
their  heads.  A  large  body  of  the  priesthood  came  rushing 
from  the  Temple  with  loud  lamentations.  The  DAILY  SAC- 
RIFICE had  ceased !  The  perpetual  offering,  which,  twice 
a  day,  burned  in  testimonial  of  the  sins  and  the  expiation 
of  Israel,  the  peculiar  homage  of  the  nation  to  Heaven, 
was  no  more !  The  siege  had  extinguished  the  resources 
of  the  Temple,  the  victims  could  no  longer  be  supplied; 
and  the  people  must  perish,  without  the  power  of  atone- 
ment !  This  was  the  final  cutting  off — the  declaration  of 
the  sentence — the  seal  of  the  great  condemnation.  Jeru- 
salem was  undone ! 

Overpowered  by  this  fatal  sign,  I  was  sadly  returning 
to  my  worse  than  solitary  chamber;  for  there  lay,  speech- 
less and  powerless,  the  noblest  creature  that  breathed  in 
Jerusalem — when  I  was  driven  aside  by  a  new  torrent  of 
the  people,  exclaiming — "The  prophet!  the  prophet!  woe 
to  the  city  of  David!" 


SALATHIEL.  323 

They  rushed  on  in  haggard  multitudes,  and  in  the  midst 
of  them  came  a  maniac,  bounding  and  gesticulating  with 
indescribable  wildness.  His  constant  exclamation  was — 
"Woe !  woe !  woe !"  in  a  tone  that  searched  the  very  heart. 
He  stopped  from  time  to  time,  flung  out  some  denuncia- 
tion against  the  popular  crimes,  and  then  recommenced  his 
cry  of  "Woe !"  and  bounded  forward  again. 

He  at  length  came  opposite  to  the  spot  where  I  stood; 
and  his  features  struck  me  as  resembling  one  whom  I  had 
seen  before.  But  they  were  full  of  a  strange  impulse — 
the  grandeur  of  inspiration,  mingled  with  the  animal 
fierceness  of  frenzy.  The  eye  shot  fire  under  the  sharp 
and  hollow  brows;  the  nostrils  contracted  and  opened  like 
those  of  an  angry  steed;  and  every  muscle  of  a  singularly 
elastic  frame  was  quivering  and  exposed  from  the  effects 
alike  of  mental  violence  and  famine. 

"Ho !  Prince  of  Naphtali !  we  meet  at  last !"  was  his 
instant  outcry.  His  countenance  fell;  and  a  tear  gushed 
from  lids  that  looked  incapable  of  a  human  feding.  "I 
found  her,"  said  he,  "my  beauty,  my  bride !  She  was  in 
the  dungeon.  The  ring  that  I  tore  from  that  villain's 
finger  was  worth  a  gold-mine,  for  it  opened  the  gates  of 
her  prison.  Come  forth,  girl !"  With  these  words  he 
caught  by  the  hand  and  led  to  me  a  pale  creature,  with  the 
traces  of  loveliness,  but  evidently  in  the  last  stage  of  mortal 
decay.  She  stood  silent  as  a  statue.  In  compassion  I  took 
her  hand,  while  the  multitude  gathered  round  us  in  curi- 
osity. I  now  remembered  Sabat  the  Ishmaelite  and  his 
story. 

"She  is  mad,"  said  Sabat,  shaking  his  head  mournfully, 
and  gazing  on  the  fading  form  at  his  side.  "Worlds  would 
not  restore  her  senses.  But  there  is  a  time  for  all  things." 
He  sighed,  and  cast  his  large  eye  on  heaven.  "I  watched 
tier  day  and  night,"  he  went  on,  "until  I  grew  mad  too. 
Bui  the  world  will  have  an  end  and  then — all  will  be  well. 
Come,  wife,  we  must  be  going.  To-night  there  are  strange 
things  within  the  walls,  and  without  the  walls.  There  will 
'be  feasting  and  mourning;  there  will  be  blood  and  tears; 
then  comes  the  famine — then  comes  the  fire — then  the 
sword;  and  then  all  is  quiet,  and  forever!" 

He  paused,  wiped  away  a  tear,  thon  began  again,  wilder 
than  ever.  "Heaven  is  mighty !  To-night  there  will  be 


324  SAL  ATX  ML. 

wonders ;  watch  well  your  walls,  people  of  the  mined  city ! 
To-night  there  will  be  signs;  let  no  man  sleep,  but  those 
who  sleep  in  the  grave.  Prince  of  Naphtali !  have  you  too 
sworn,  as  I  have,  to  die?"  He  lifted  his  meagre  hand. 
"Come  thunders !  come  fires !  vengeance  cries  from  the 
sanctuary.  Listen,  undone  people!  listen,  nation  of  sor- 
row !  the  ministers  of  wrath  are  on  the  wing.  Woe  ! — woe ! 
— woe!" 

In  pronouncing  those  words  with  a  voice  of  the  most 
sonorous,  yet  melancholy  power,  he  threw  himself  into  a 
succession  of  strange  and  fearful  gestures;  then  beckon- 
ing to  the  female,  who  submissively  followed  his  steps, 
plunged  away  among  the  multitude.  I  heard  the  howl  of 
"Woe  ! — woe  ! — woe  !"  long  echoed  through  the  windings  of 
the  ruined  streets,  and  thought  that  I  heard  the  voice  of 
the  angel  of  desolation. 


CHAPTER  XLVIL 

THE  seventeenth  day  of  the  month  Tamuz,  ever  memo- 
rable in  the  sufferings  of  Israel,  was  the  last  of  the  Daily 
Sacrifice.  Sorrow  and  fear  were  on  the  city;  and  the 
silence  of  the  night  was  broken  by  the  lamentations  of  the 
multitude.  I  returned  to  my  chamber  of  affliction,  and 
busied  myself  in  preparing  for  the  guard  of  the  Temple, 
to  withdraw  my  mind  from  the  gloom  that  was  begin- 
ning to  master  me.  Yet  when  I  looked  round  the  room, 
and  thought  of  what  I  had  been,  of  the  opulent  enjoy- 
ments of  my  palace,  and  of  the  beloved  faces  which  sur- 
rounded me  there,  I  felt  the  sickness  of  the  heart. 

The  chilling  air  that  blew  through  the  dilapidated  walls, 
the  cruse  of  water,  the  scanty  bread,  the  glimmering; 
lamp,  the  comfortless  and  squalid  bed,  on  which  lay  in 
the  last  stage  of  weakness,  a  patriot  and  a  hero — a  being 
full  of  fine  affections  and  abilities,  reduced  to  the  help- 
lessness of  an  infant,  and  whom  in  leaving  for  the  night, 
I  might  be  leaving  to  perish  by  the  poniard  of  the  rob- 
ber— unmanned  me.  I  cast  the  scimitar  from  my  hand, 
and  sat  down  with  a  sullen  determination  there  to  linger 
until  death,  or  that  darker  vengeance  which  haunted  me, 
should  do  its  will. 


BALATHIEL. 

The  night  was  a  storm,  and  the  wind  howled  in  long  and 
bitter  gusts  through  the  deserted  chambers  of  the  huge 
mansion.  But  the  mind  is  the  true  place  of  suffering,  and 
I  felt  the  season's  visitation,  in  my  locks  drenched  about 
my  face,  and  my  tattered  robes  swept  by  the  freezing 
blasts,  as  only  the  natural  course  of  things. 

I  was  sitting  by  the  bedside,  moistening  the  fevered 
lips  of  Constantius  with  water,  and  pressing  on  him  the 
last  fragment  of  bread  which  I  might  ever  have  to  give, 
when  I,  with  sudden  delight,  heard  him  utter,  for  the 
first  time,  articulate  sounds.  I  stooped  my  ear  to  catch 
accents  so  dear  and  full  of  hope.  But  the  words  were  a 
supplication — he  prayed  to  the  Christian's  God ! 

I  turned  away  from  this  resistless  conviction  of  his  be- 
lief. But  this  was  no  time  for  debate;  and  I  was  won  to 
listen  again.  His  voice  was  scarcely  above  a  whisper, 
but  his  language  was  the  aspiration  of  the  heart.  His 
eyes  were  closed;  and  evidently  unconscious  of  my  pres- 
ence, in  his  high  communion  with  Heaven,  he  talked  of 
things  of  which  I  had  but  imperfect  knowledge,  or  none; 
of  blood  shed  for  the  sins  of  man;  of  a  descended  Spirit 
to  guide  the  servants  of  Heaven;  of  the  unspeakable  love 
that  gave  the  Son  of  God  to  mortal  suffering  for  the 
atonement  of  that  human  guilt  which  nothing  but  such  a 
sacrifice  could  atone.  He  finished  by  the  names  dear  to 
us  both ;  and  praying  "for  their  safety,  if  they  still  were  in 
life,  or  for  their  meeting  beyond  the  grave,  declared  him- 
self resigned  to  the  will  of  his  Lord." 

I  waited  in  sacred  awe  until  I  saw,  by  the  subsiding 
motion  of  the  lips,  that  the  prayer  was  done;  and  then, 
anxious  to  gain  information  of  my  family,  questioned  him. 
But  with  the  prayer  the  interval  of  mental  power  had 
passed  away.  The  veil  was  drawn  over  his  senses  once 
more;  and  his  answers  were  unintelligible.  Yet  even  the 
hope  of  his  restoration  lightened  my  gloom;  my  spirits, 
naturally  elastic,  shook  off  their  leaden  weight;  I  took 
up  the  scimitar,  and  pressing  the  cold  hand  of  my  noble 
fellow  victim,  prepared  to  issue  forth  to  the  Temple.  The 
etorm  was  partially  gone,  and  the  moon,  approaching  to 
the  full,  was  high  in  heaven,  fighting  her  way  through 
masses  of  rapid  cloud.  The  wind  still  roared  in  long  blasts, 
as  the  tempest  retired,  like  an  army  repulsed,  and  indig- 


326  SAL  AT  HI  EL. 

nant  at  being  driven  from  the  spoil.  But  the  ground 
was  deluged,  and  a  bitter  sleet  shot  on  our  half-naked 
bodies.  I  had  far  to  pass  through  the  streets  of  the  up- 
per city;  and  their  aspect  was  deeply  suited  to  the  mel- 
ancholy of  the  hour. 

Vast  walls  and  buttresses  of  the  burned  and  overthrown 
mansions  remained,  that  in  the  spectral  light  looked  like 
gigantic  spectres.  Kanges  of  inferior  ruins  stretched  to 
the  utmost  glance;  some  yet  sending  up  the  smoke  o£ 
recent  conflagration,  and  others  beaten  down  by  the  storms,, 
or  left  to  decay.  The  immense  buildings  of  the  hierarchy,, 
once  the  scene  of  all  but  kingly  magnificence,  stood  roof- 
less and  windowless,  with  the  light  sadly  gleaming  through 
their  fissures,  and  the  wind  singing  a  dirge  of  ruin  through 
their  halls.  I  scarcely  met  a  human  being;  for  the  sword 
and  famine  had  fearfully  reduced  the  once  countless  pop- 
ulation. 

But  I  often  startled  a  flight  of  vultures  from  their 
meal;  or,  in  the  sinking  of  the  light,  stumbled  upon  a 
heap  that  uttered  a  cry,  and  showed  that  life  was  there; 
or  from  his  horrid  morsel,  a  wretch  glared  upon  me,  as 
one  wolf  might  glare  upon  another,  that  came  to  rob  him. 
of  his  prey;  or  the  twinkling  of  a  miserable  lamp  in  the 
corner  of  a  ruin,  glimmered  over  a  knot  of  felony  and. 
murder,  reckoning  their  hideous  gains,  and  carousing  with. 
the  dagger  drawn.  Heaps  of  bones,  whitening  in  the' 
air,  were  the  monuments  of  the  wasted  valor  of  my  coun- 
trymen ;  and  the  oppressive  atmosphere  gave  the  sensation. 
of  walking  in  a  sepulchre. 

I  dragged  my  limbs  with  increased  difficulty  through 
those  long  avenues  of  death.  On  the  summit  of  the  hill. 
I  found  a  crowd  of  unhappy  beings,  who  came,  like  my- 
self, actuated  by  zeal  to  defend  the  Temple  from  the 
insults  to  which  its  sanctity  was  now  nightly  exposed. 
Faction  had  long  extinguished  the  native  homage  of  the 
people.  Battles  had  been  fought  within  its  walls;  and 
many  a  corpse  loaded  the  sacred  floors,  that  once  would 
have  required  solemn  ceremonies  to  free  them  from  the 
pollution  of  an  unlicensed  step. 

And  what  a  bafid  were  assembled  there !  Wretches  mu- 
tilated by  wounds,  worn  with  sleeplessness,  haggard  with 
want  of  food;  sheering  together  on  the  declivity,  whose 


SALATHIEL.  327 

naked  elevation  exposed  them  to  the  whole  inclemency  of 
the  night;  flung,  like  the  dead,  on  the  ground,  or  gath- 
ered in  little  knots  among  the  ruined  porticos,  with  death 
in  every  frame,  and  despair  in  every  heart. 

I  was  sheltering  myself  behind  the  broken  columns  of 
the  Grand  gate,  from  the  bitter  wind  which  searched  every 
fibre,  and  was  sinking  into  that  chilling  torpor  which 
benumbs  body  and  mind  alike,  when  a  clash  of  military 
music  and  the  tramp  of  a  multitude  assailed  my  ear.  I 
and  my  miserable  companions  mustered,  from  the  various 
hollows  of  the  hill,  to  our  post  on  the  central  ground  of 
Mount  Moriah,  whence  the  view  was  boundless  on  every 
side.  A  growing  blaze  rose  up  from  the  valley,  and  flashed 
upon  the  wall  of  circumvallation.  The  sounds  of  cymbal 
and  trumpet  swelled;  the  light  advanced  rapidly;  and 
going  the  circuit  of  the  wall,  helmets  and  lances  were  seen 
glittering  through  the  gloom;  a  crowd  of  archers  pre- 
ceded a  dense  body  of  the  legionary  horse,  at  whose  head 
rode  a  group  of  officers.  On  this  night  the  fatal  wall  had 
been  completed,  and  Titus  was  going  its  round  in  triumph. 
Every  horseman  carried  a  torch,  and  strong  divisions  of 
infantry  followed,  bearing  lamps  and  vessels  of  combustible 
matter  on  the  points  of  their  spears.  As  the  whole  moved, 
rolling  and  bending  with  the  inequalities  of  the  ground,  I 
thought  that  I  saw  a  mighty  serpent  coiling  his  burning 
spires  round  the  prey  that  was  never  to  be  rescued  by  the 
power  of  man. 

But  the  pomp  of  war  below,  and  the  wretchedness  round 
me,  raised  reflections  of  such  bitterness,  that,  when  Titus 
and  his  splendid  troop  reached  the  mountain  of  the  Temple 
one  outcry  of  sorrow  and  anticipated  ruin  burst  from  us 
all.  The  conqueror  heard  it,  and,  from  the  instant  ma- 
noeuvring of  his  troops,  was  evidently  alarmed:  he  had 
known  the  courage  of  the  Jews  too  long  not  to  dread  the 
effect  of  their  despair.  And  despair  it  was,  fierce  and  un- 
tamable !  I  started  forward,  exclaiming,  "If  there  is  a 
man  among  you  ready  to  stake  his  life  for  his  country,  let 
him  follow  me." 

To  the  last  hour  the  Jew  was  a  warrior!  The  crowd 
seized  their  .spears,  and  we  sprang  down  the  cliffs.  As 
we  reached  the  outer  wall  of  the  city,  I  restrained  their 
exhaustless  spirit,  until  I  had  singly  ascertained  the  state 


328  BALATH1EL. 

of  the  enemy.  Titus  was  passing  the  well-known  ravine 
near  the  Fountain  gate,  where  the  ground  was  difficult  for 
cavalry,  from  its  being  chiefly  divided  into  gardens.  I 
flung  open  the  gate,  and  led  the  way  to  the  circumval- 
lation.  The  sentinels,  occupied  with  looking  on  the  pomp, 
suffered  us  to  approach  unperceived ;  we  mounted  the  wall, 
overthrew  everything  before  us,  and  plunged  down  upon 
the  cavalry  entangled  in  the  ravine.  It  was  a  complete 
ourprise. 

The  bravery  of  the  legions  was  not  proof  against  the 
fury  of  our  attack.  Even  our  wild  faces  and  half-naked 
forms,  by  the  uncertain  glare  of  the  torches,  looked  scarce- 
ly human.  Horse  and  man  rolled  down  the  declivity. 
The  arrival  of  fresh  troops  only  increased  the  confusion; 
their  torches  made  them  a  mark  for  our  pikes  and  arrows ; 
every  point  told ;  and  every  Roman  that  fell  armed  a  Jew. 
The  conflict  now  became  murderous,  and  we  stabbed  at 
our  ease  the  troopers  of  the  emperor's  guard,  through 
their  mail,  while  their  long  lances  were  useless.  The  de- 
file gave  us  incalculable  advantages,  for  the  garden  walls 
were  impassable  by  the  cavalry,  while  we  bounded  over 
them  like  deer.  All  was  uproar,  terror,  and  rage.  We 
actually  waded  through  blood.  At  every  step  I  trod  on 
horse  or  man ;  helmets  and  bucklers,  lances  and  armor, 
lay  in  heaps ;  and  the  stream  of  the  ravine  soon  ran  purple 
with  the  proudest  gore  of  the  legions. 

At  length,  while  we  were  absolutely  oppressed  with  the 
multitude  of  dead,  a  sudden  blast  of  trumpets,  and  the 
shouts  of  the  enemy,  led  me  to  prepare  for  a  still  fiercer 
effort.  A  tide  of  cavalry  poured  over  the  ground;  Titus, 
a  gallant  figure,  cheering  them  on,  with  his  helmet  in  his 
hand,  galloped  in  their  front ;  I  withdrew  my  wearied  fol- 
lowers from  the  exposed  situation  into  which  their  suc- 
cess had  led  them,  and,  posting  them  behind  a  rampart 
of  Eoman  dead,  awaited  the  charge.  It  came  with  the 
force  of  thunder;  the  powerful  horses  of  the  imperial 
squadron  broke  over  our  rampart  at  the  first  shock,  and 
bore  us  down  like  stubble.  Every  man  of  us  was  under 
their  feet  in  a  moment ;  and  yet  the  very  number  of  our 
assailants  saved  us.  The  narrowness  of  the  place  gave  no 
room  for  the  management  of  the  horse;  the  darkness  as- 
sisted both  our  escape  and  assault;  and,  even  lying  on 


BALATHIEL.  329 

the  ground,  we  plunged  our  knives  in  horse  and  rider 
with  terrible  retaliation. 

The  cavalry  at  length  gave  way;  but  the  Eoman  gen- 
eral, a  man  of  the  heroic  spirit  that  is  only  inflamed  by 
repulse,  rushed  forward  among  the  disheartened  troops, 
and  roused  them,  by  his  cries  and  gestures,  to  retrieve 
their  honor.  After  a  few  bold  words,  he  again  charged 
at  their  head.  I  singled  him  out,  as  I  saw  his  golden 
helmet  gleam  in  the  torchlight.  To  capture  the  son  of 
Vespasian  would  have  been  a  triumph  worth  a  thousand 
lives.  Titus  was  celebrated  for  personal  dexterity  in  the 
management  of  the  horse  and  lance,  and  I  could  not  with- 
hold my  admiration  of  the  skill  with  which  he  penetrated 
the  difficulties  of  the  field,  and  the  mastery  with  which 
he  overthrew  all  that  opposed  him. 

Our  motley  ranks  were  already  scattering,  when  I  cried 
out  my  name,  and  defied  him  to  the  combat.  He  stooped 
over  his  charger's  neck  to  discover  his  adversary,  and 
seeing  before  him  a  being  as  blackened  and  beggared  as 
the  most  dismantled  figure  of  the  crowd,  gave  a  laugh  of 
fierce  derision,  and  was  turning  away,  when  our  roar  of 
scorn  recalled  him.  He  struck  in  the  spur,  and  couching 
his  lance,  bounded  towards  me.  To  have  waited  his  at- 
tack must  have  been  destruction;  I  sprang  aside,  and 
with  my  full  vigor  flung  my  javelin:  it  went  through  his 
buckler.  He  reeled,  and  a  groan  rose  from  the  legionaries 
who  were  rushing  forwards  to  his  support.  He  stopped 
them  with  a  fierce  gesture,  and  casting  off  the  entangled 
buckler,  charged  again.  But  the  hope  of  the  imperial 
diadem  was  not  to  be  thus  cheaply  hazarded.  The  whole 
circle  of  cavalry  rolled  in  upon  us;  I  was  dragged  down 
by  a  hundred  hands,  and  Titus  was  forced  away,  indignant 
at  the  zeal  which  had  thwarted  his  fiery  valor. 

In  the  confusion  I  was  forgotten,  burst  through  the 
concourse,  and  rejoined  my  countrymen,  who  had  given 
me  over  for  lost,  and  now  received  me  with  shouts  of  vic- 
tory. The  universal  cry  was  to  advance ;  but  I  felt  that  the 
limit  of  triumph  for  that  night  was  come:  the  engage- 
ment had  become  known  to  the  whole  range  of  the  enemy's 
camps,  and  troops  without  number  were  already  pouring 
down.  I  ordered  a  retreat,  but  there  was  one  remaining 
exploit  to  make  the  night's  service  memorable. 


330  8ALATHIEL. 

Leaving  a  few  hundred  pikemen  outside  the  circumval- 
lation,  to  keep  off  any  sudden  attempt,  I  set  every  hand 
at  work  to  gather  the  dry  weeds,  rushes,  and  fragments 
of  trees  from  the  low  grounds  into  a  pile.  It  was  laid 
against  the  rampart.  I  flung  the  first  torch,  and  pile  and 
rampart  were  soon  alike  in  a  blaze.  Volumes  of  flame, 
carried  by  the  wind,  rolled  round  its  entire  circuit.  The 
Eomans  rushed  down  in  multitudes  to  extinguish  the  fire. 
But  this  became  continually  more  difficult.  Jerusalem  had 
been  roused  from  its  sleep,  and  the  extravagant  rumors 
that  a  great  victory  was  obtained,  Titus  slain,  and  the 
enemy's  camp  taken  by  storm,  stimulated  the  natural  spirit 
of  the  people  to  the  most  boundless  confidence.  Every 
Jew  who  could  find  a  lance,  an  arrow,  or  a  knife,  hurried 
to  the  gates,  and  the  space  between  the  walls  and  the 
circumvallation  was  crowded  with  an  army,  which,  in  that 
crisis  of  superhuman  exultation,  perhaps  no  disciplined 
force  on  earth  could  have  outfought. 

Nothing  could  now  save  the  rampart.  Torches  innu- 
merable, piles  of  faggots,  arms,  even  the  dead,  all  things 
that  could  burn,  were  flung  upon  it.  Thousands,  who  at 
other  times  might  have  shrunk,  forgot  the  name  of  fear, 
leaped  into  the  very  midst  of  the  flame,  and,  tearing  up 
the  blazing  timbers,  dug  to  the  heart  of  the  rampart,  and 
filled  the  hollows  with  sulphur  and  bitumen;  thousands 
struggled  their  way  across  the  tumbling  ruins,  to  throw 
themselves  among  the  Eoman  spearsmen,  and  see  the  blood 
of  an  enemy  before  they  died. 

War  never  had  a  bolder  moment.  Human  nature,  roused 
to  the  wildest  height  of  enthusiasm,  was  lavishing  life  like 
dust.  The  ramparts  spread  a  horrid  light  upon  the  havoc : 
every  spot  of  the  battle,  every  group  of  the  furious  living 
and  the  trampled  and  deformed  dead,  were  keenly  visible. 
The  ear  was  deafened  by  the  incessant  roar  of  flame,  the 
falling  of  the  huge  heaps  of  the  rampart,  and  the  agonies 
and  exultations  of  men  revelling  in  mutual  slaughter. 

In  that  hour  came  one  of  those  solemn  signs  that  marked 
the  downfall  of  Jerusalem.  The  tempest,  that  had  blown 
at  intervals  with  tremendous  violence,  died  away  at  once; 
and  a  surge  of  light  ascended  from  the  horizon,  and  rolled 
up  rapidly  to  the  zenith.  The  phenomenon  instantly 
fixed  every  eye.  There  was  an  indefinable  senae  in  the 


SALATHIEL.  331 

general  mind  that  a  sign  of  power  and  providence  was 
about  to  be  given.  The  battle  ceased;  the  outcries  were 
followed  by  utter  silence;  the  armed  ranks  stood  still,  in 
the  very  act  of  rushing  on  each  other;  all  faces  were 
turned  on  the  heavens. 

The  light  rose  pale  and  quivering,  like  the  meteors  of 
a  summer  evening.  But  in  the  zenith  it  spread  and 
swelled  into  a  splendor  that  distinguished  it  irresistibly 
from  the  wonders  of  earth  or  air.  It  swiftly  eclipsed  every 
star.  The  moon  vanished  before  it;  the  canopy  of  the 
sky  seemed  to  be  dissolved,  for  a  view  into  a  bright  and 
infinite  region  beyond,  fit  for  the  career  of  those  mighty 
beings  to  whom  man  is  but  the  dust  on  the  gale. 

As  we  gazed,  this  boundless  field  was  transformed  into 
a  field  of  battle;  multitudes  seemed  to  crowd  it  in  the 
fiercest  combat;  horsemen  charged,  and  died  under  their 
horses'  feet ;  armor  and  standards  were  trampled  in  blood ; 
column  and  line  burst  through  each  other.  At  length, 
the  battle  stooped  towards  the  earth;  and,  with  hearts 
beating  with  indescribable  feelings,  we  recognized  in  the 
fight  the  banners  of  the  tribes.  It  was  Jew  and  Eoman 
struggling  for  life;  the  very  countenance  of  the  combat- 
ants became  visible,  and  each  man  below  saw  a  repre- 
sentative of  himself  above.  The  fate  of  Jewish  war  was 
there  written  by  the  hand  of  Heaven;  the  fate  of  the 
individual  was  there  predicted  in  the  individual  triumph 
or  fall.  What  tongue  of  man  can  tell  the  intense  interest 
with  which  we  watched  every  blow,  every  movement,  every 
wound,  of  those  images  of  ourselves? 

The  light  now  illumined  the  whole  horizon  below.  The 
legions  were  seen  drawn  out  in  front  of  the  camps,  ready 
for  action;  every  helmet  and  spear  point  glittering  in  the 
radiance;  every  face  turned  up,  gazing  in  awe  and  terror 
on  the  sky.  The  tents  spreading  over  the  hills;  the  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  of  auxiliaries  and  captives; 
the  little  groups  of  the  peasantry,  roused  from  sleep  by 
the  uproar  of  the  night,  and  gathered  upon  the  knolls 
and  eminences  of  their  fields;  all  were  bathed  in  a  fiood 
of  preternatural  lustre.  But  the  wondrous  battle  ap- 
proached its  close.  The  visionary  Romans  seemed  to 
shake;  column  and  cohort  gave  way;  and  the  banners  of 
the  tribes  waved  in  victory  over  the  celestial  field.  Then, 


332  BALATBIEL. 

first,  human  voices  dared  to  be  heard.  From  the  city  and 
the  plain  burst  forth  one  mighty  shout  of  triumph ! 

But  our  presumption  was  soon  to  be  checked.  A  peal 
of  thunder  that  made  the  very  ground  tremble  under 
our  feet,  rolled  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  heaven. 
The  conquering  host  shook,  broke,  and  fled  in  utter  con- 
fusion over  the  sapphire  field.  It  was  pursued ;  but  by  no 
semblance  of  the  Koman. 

An  awful  enemy  was  on  its  steps.  Flashes  of  forked 
fire,  like  myriads  of  lances,  darted  after  it ;  cloud  on  cloud 
deepened  down,  as  the  smoke  of  a  mighty  furnace;  globes 
of  light  shot  blasting  and  burning  along  its  track.  Then, 
amid  the  double  roar  of  thunder,  rushed  forth  the  chivalry 
of  heaven.  Shapes  of  transcendent  beauty,  yet  with  looks 
of  wrath  that  withered  the  human  eye;  armed  sons  of 
immortality  descending  on  the  wing  by  millions;  mingled 
with  shapes  and  instruments  of  ruin,  for  which  the  mind 
has  no  conception.  The  circle  of  the  heaven  was  filled  with 
the  chariots  and  horses  of  fire.  Flight  was  no  more:  the 
weapons  were  seen  to  drop  from  the  Jewish  host:  their 
warriors  sank  upon  the  splendid  field.  Still  the  immor- 
tal armies  poured  on,  trampling  and  blasting,  until  the 
last  of  the  routed  were  consumed. 

The  angry  pomp  then  paused.  Countless  wings  were 
spread,  and  the  angelic  multitudes,  having  done  the  work  of 
vengeance,  rushed  upward,  with  the  sound  of  ocean  in  the 
storm.  The  roar  of  trumpets  and  thunders  was  heard, 
until  the  splendor  was  lost  in  the  heights  of  the  empy- 
rean. 

We  felt  the  terrible  warning.  Our  strength  was  dried 
up  at  the  sight;  despair  seized  upon  our  souls.  We  had 
seen  the  fate  of  Jerusalem.  No  victory  over  man  could 
now  save  us  from  the  coming  of  final  ruin ! 

Thousands  never  left  the  ground  on  which  they  stood ; 
they  perished  by  their  own  hands,  or  lay  down  and  died 
of  broken  hearts.  The  rest  fled  through  the  night,  that 
again  wrapped  them  in  tenfold  darkness.  The  whole  mul- 
titude scattered  away,  with  soundless  steps,  and  in  silence, 
like  an  army  of  spectres. 


SALATHIEL.  333 

CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

IN  the  deepest  dejection  that  could  overwhelm  the  hu- 
man mind,  I  returned  to  the  city,  where  one  melancholy 
care  still  bound  me  to  existence.  I  hastened  to  my  com- 
fortless shelter;  but  the  battle  had  fluctuated  so  far  round 
the  walls,  that  I  found  myself  perplexed  among  the  ruins 
of  a  portion  of  the  lower  city,  a  crowd  of  obscure  streets 
which  belonged  almost  wholly  to  strangers  and  the  poorer 
population. 

The  faction  of  John  of  Giscala,  composed  chiefly  of  the 
more  profligate  and  beggared  class,  had  made  the  lower 
city  their  stronghold  before  they  became  masters  of  Mount 
Moriah;  and  some  desperate  skirmishes,  of  Avhich  confla- 
grations were  the  perpetual  consequence,  laid  waste  the 
principal  part  of  a  district  built,  and  ruined,  with  the 
haste  and  carelessness  of  poverty.  To  find  a  guide  through 
this  scene  of  dilapidation  was  hopeless,  for  every  living 
creature,  terrified  by  the  awful  portents  of  the  sky,  had 
fled  from  the  streets.  The  night  was  solid  darkness.  No 
expiring  gleam  from  the  burnt  rampart,  no  fires  of  the 
Roman  camps,  no  touch  on  the  Jewish  battlements,  broke 
the  pitchy  blackness.  Life  and  light  seemed  to  have  per- 
ished together. 

To  proceed  soon  became  impossible,  and  I  had  no  other 
resource  than  to  wait  the  coming  of  day.  But  to  one 
accustomed  as  I  was  to  hardships,  this  inconvenience  was 
trivial.  I  felt  my  way  along  the  walls  to  the  entrance  of  a 
house  that  promised  some  protection  from  the  night.  But 
the  destruction  was  so  effectual  that  this  was  difficult  to 
discover;  and  I  was  hopelessly  returning  to  take  my 
chance  in  the  open  air,  when  I  observed  the  glimmer  of  a 
lamp  through  a  crevice  in  the  upper  part  of  the  building. 
My  first  impulse  was  to  approach  and  obtain  assistance. 
But  the  abruptness  of  the  ascent  gave  me  time  to  consider 
ihe  hazard  of  breaking  in  upon  such  groups  as  might  be 
gathered  at  that  hour,  in  a  period  when  every  atrocity 
under  heaven  reigned  in  Jerusalem. 

My  patience  was  put  to  but  brief  trial;  for,  in  a  few 
minutes,  I  heard  a  low  hymn.  It  paused,  as  if  followed 
by  prayer.  The  hymn  began  again,  in  accents  so  faint  as 
evidently  to  express  the  fear  of  the  worshippers.  But  the 


334  SALATHIEL. 

sounds  thrilled  through  my  soul.  I  listened,  in  a  struggle 
of  doubt  and  hope.  Could  I  be  deceived?  and  if  I  were,, 
how  bitter  must  be  the  discovery !  I  sat  down  at  the  foot 
of  the  rude  stair,  to  feed  myself  with  the  fancied  delight, 
before  it  should  be  snatched  from  me  forever. 

But  my  perturbation  would  have  risen  to  madness,  had 
1  stopped  longer.  I  climbed  up  the  tottering  steps;  half- 
way I  found  myself  obstructed  by  a  door ;  I  struck  upon  it, 
and  called  aloud.  After  an  interval  of  miserable  delay,  a 
still  higher  door  was  opened,  and  a  figure,  enveloped  in  a. 
veil,  timidly  looked  out,  and  asked  my  purpose.  I  saw, 
glancing  over  her,  two  faces,  that  I  would  have  given  the 
world  to  see.  I  called  out  "Miriam !"  Overpowered  with 
emotion,  my  speech  failed  me.  I  lived  only  in  my  eyes.  I 
;saw  Miriam  fling  off  the  mantle  with  a  scream  of  joy,  and 
j-nsh  down  the  steps.  I  saw  my  two  daughters  follow  her 
with  the  speed  of  love;  the  door  was  thrown  open,  and  I 
fell  fainting  into  their  arms. 

Tears,  exclamations,  and  gazings,  were  long  our  only  lan- 
guage. My  wife  hung  over  my  wasted  frame  with  endless 
embraces  and  sobs  of  joy.  My  daughters  fell  at  my  feet, 
bathed  my  cold  hands  with  their  tears,  smiled  on  me  in 
speechless  delight,  and  then  wept  again.  They  had  thought 
me  lest  to  them  forever.  I  had  thought  them  dead,  or 
driven  to  some  solitude  which  forbade  us  to  meet  again  on 
this  side  of  the  grave.  For  two  years,  two  dreadful  years, 
a  lonely  man  on  earth,  a  wifeless  husband,  a  childless 
father,  tried  by  every  misery  of  mind  and  body;  here — 
here  I  found  my  treasure  once  more!  On  this  spot, 
wretched  and  destitute  as  it  was,  in  the  midst  of  public 
misery  and  personal  woe,  I  had  found  those  whose  loss 
would  have  made  the  riches  of  mankind  beggary  to  me. 
My  soul  overflowed.  Words  were  not  made  to  tell  the 
feverish  fondness,  the  strong  delight,  that  quivered 
through  me.  I  wept  with  woman's  weakness;  I  held  my 
wife  and  children  at  arm's  length,  that  I  might  enjoy  the 
full  happiness  of  gazing  on  them ;  then  my  eyes  would 
grow  dim ;  and  I  caught  them  to  my  heart,  and  in  silence, 
the  silence  of  unspeakable  emotion,  tried  to  collect  my 
thoughts,  and  convince  myself  that  my  joy  was  no  dream. 

The  night  passed  in  mutual  inquiries.  The  career  of 
my  family  had  been  deeply  diversified.  On  my  capture 


&ALATHIEL.  335 

in  the  great  battle  with  Cestius,  in  which  it  was  said  that 
I  had  fallen,  they  were  on  the  point  of  coming  to  Jerusa- 
lem to  ascertain  their  misfortune.  The  advance  of  the 
Romans  to  Masada  precluded  this.  They  sailed  for  Alex- 
andria, and  were  overtaken  by  a  storm. 

"In  that  storm/'  said  Miriam,  with  terror  painted  on 
her  countenance,  "we  saw  a  sight  that  appalled  the  firmest 
heart  among  us,  and  to  this  hour  recalls  fearful  images. 
The  night  had  fallen  intensely  dark.  Our  vessel,  laboring 
through  the  tempest  during  the  day,  and  greatly  shattered, 
was  expected  to  go  down  before  morn,  and  I  had  come 
upon  the  deck,  prepared  to  submit  to  the  general  fate,  when 
I  saw  a  flame  in  the  distance,  and  pointed  it  out  to  the 
mariners;  but  they  were  paralyzed  by  weariness  and  fear, 
and  instead  of  approaching  what  I  conceived  to  be  a  beacon, 
they  left  the  vessel  to  the  mercy  of  the  wind.  I  watched 
the  light ;  to  my  astonishment,  I  saw  it  advancing  over  the 
waves.  It  was  a  large  ship  on  fire,  and  rushing  down  upon 
us.  Then,  indeed,  there  was  no  insensibility  among  our 
mariners ;  they  were  like  madmen  through  excess  of  fear — 
they  did  everything  but  make  an  effort  to  escape  the 
danger. 

"The  blazing  ship  came  towards  us  with  terrific  rapidity. 
As  it  approached,  the  figure  of  a  man  was  seen  on  the  deck., 
standing  unhurt  in  the  midst  of  the  burning.  The  Syrian 
pilot,  hitherto  the  boldest  of  our  crew,  at  this  sight  cast  the 
helm  from  his  hands  in  despair,  and  tore  his  beard,  ex- 
claiming that  we  were  undone.  To  our  questions,  he  would 
give  no  other  answer  than  by  pointing  to  the  solitary  beir  r 
who  stood  calmly  in  the  centre  of  conflagration,  more  like 
a  demon  than  a  man. 

"I  proposed  that  we  should  make  some  effort  to  rescue 
this  unfortunate  man.  But  the  pilot,  horrorstruck  at  the 
thought,  then  gave  up  the  tale  that  it  cost  him  agonies 
even  to  utter.  He  told  us  that  the  being  whom  our  frantic 
compassion  would  attempt  to  save  was  an  accursed  thing; 
that  for  some  crime,  too  inexpiable  to  allow  of  his  remain- 
ing among  creatures  capable  of  hope,  he  was  cast  out  from 
men,  stricken  into  the  nature  of  the  condemned  spirits,  and 
sentenced  to  rove  the  ocean  in  fire,  ever  burning  and  never 
consumed !" 
.  I  felt  every  word,  as  if  that  fire  were  devouring  my  flesh. 


336  8ALATHIEL. 

The  sense  of  what  I  was,  and  what  I  must  be,  was  poison. 
My  head  swam;  mortal  pain  overwhelmed  me.  And  thi* 
abhorred  thing  I  was;  this  sentenced  and  fearful  wretch  I 
was,  covered  with  wrath  and  shame,  this  exile  from  human 
nature  I  was;  and  I  heard  my  sentence  pronounced,  and 
my  existence  declared  hideous,  by  the  lips  on  which  I  hung 
for  confidence  and  consolation  against  the  world. 

Flinging  my  robe  over  my  face  to  hide  its  writhings,  I 
seemed  to  listen,  but  my  ears  refused  to  hear.  In  my  per- 
turbation, I  once  thought  of  boldly  avowing  the  truth,  and 
thus  freeing  myself  from  the  pang  of  perpetual  conceal- 
ment. But  the  offence  and  the  retribution  were  too  real 
and  too  deadly  to  be  disclosed,  without  destroying  the  last 
chance  of  happiness  to  those  innocent  sufferers.  I  mas- 
tered the  convulsion,  and  again  bent  my  ear. 

"Our  story  exhausts  you,"  said  Miriam ;  "but  it  is  done. 
After  a  long  pursuit,  in  which  the  burning  ship  followed 
us,  as  if  with  the  express  purpose  of  our  ruin,  we  were 
snatched  from  a  death  by  fire,  only  to  undergo  the  chance 
of  one  by  the  waves,  for  we  were  sinking.  Yet  it  may  have 
been  owing  even  to  that  chase  that  we  were  saved.  The 
ship  had  driven  us  towards  land.  At  sea  we  must  have 
perished;  but  the  shore  was  found  to  be  so  near  that  the 
country  people,  guided  by  the  flame,  saved  us,  without  the 
loss  of  a  life.  Once  on  shore,  we  met  with  some  of  the 
fugitives  from  Masada,  who  brought  us  to  Jerusalem,  the 
only  remaining  refuge  of  our  unhappy  nation." 

To  prevent  a  recurrence  of  this  torturing  subject,  I 
mastered  my  emotion  so  far  as  to  ask  some  question  of  the 
siege.  But  Miriam's  thoughts  were  still  busy  with  the  sea. 
After  some  hesitation,  and  as  if  she  dreaded  the  answer, 
she  said,  "One  extraordinary  circumstance  made  me  take 
a  strong  interest  in  the  fate  of  that  solitary  being  on 
board  the  burning  vessel.  It  once  seemed  to  have  the  most 
striking  likeness  to  you.  I  even  cried  out  to  it  under  that 
impression ;  but  fortunate  it  was  for  us  all  that  my  heedless 
cry  was  not  answered ;  for  when  it  approached  us,  I  could 
see  its  countenance  change ;  it  threw  a  sheet  of  flame  across 
our  vessel  that  almost  scorched  us;  and  then,  perhaps 
thinking  that  our  destruction  was  complete,  the  human 
fiend  ascended  from  the  waters  in  a  pillar  of  intense  fire." 

I  felt  deep  pain  in  this  romantic  narrative.     My  myg- 


SALATHttiL.  337 

feriotis  sentence'  was  the  common  talk  of  mankind!  My 
frightful  secret,  that  I  had  thought  locked  up  in  my  own 
heart,  was  loose  as  the  air.  This  was  enough  to  make  life 
bitter.  But  to  be  identified  in  the  minds  of  my  family 
with  the  object  of  universal  horror,  was  a  chance  which  I 
determined  not  to  contemplate.  My  secret  there  was  still 
safe ;  and  my  resolution  became  fixed,  never  to  destroy  that 
safety  by  any  frantic  confidence  of  my  own. 


CHAPTEE  XLIX. 

WHILE,  with  my  head  bent  on  my  knees,  I  hung  in  the 
misery  of  self-abhorrence,  I  heard  the  name  of  Constan- 
tius  sorrowfully  pronounced  beside  me.  The  state  in  which 
he  must  be  left  by  my  long  absence  flashed  upon  my  mind; 
I  raised  my  eyes,  and  saw  Salome.  It  was  her  voice  that 
wept;  and  I  then  first  observed  the  work  of  woe  in  her 
form  and  features.  She  was  almost  a  shadow ;  her  eye  was 
lustreless,  and  the  hands  that  she  clasped  in  silent  prayer 
were  reduced  to  the  bone.  But  before  I  could  speak, 
Miriam  made  a  sign  of  silence  to  me,  and  led  the  mourner 
away;  then  returning,  said,  "I  dreaded  lest  you  might 
make  any  inquiries  before  Salome  for  her  husband.  Re- 
ligion alone  has  kept  her  from  the  grave.  On  our  arrival 
here  we  found  our  noble  Constantius  worn  out  by  the  fa- 
tigue of  the  time;  but  he  was  our  guardian  spirit  in  the 
dreadful  tumults  of  the  city.  When  we  were  burnt  out  of 
one  asylum,  he  led  us  to  another.  It  is  but  a  week  since  he 
placed  us  in  this  melancholy  spot,  but  yet  the  more  secure 
and  unknown.  He  himself  brought  us  provisions,  supplied 
us  with  every  comfort  that  could  be  obtained  by  his  im- 
poverished means,  and  saved  us  from  famine.  But  now," — 
the  tears  gushed  from  her  eyes,  and  she  could  not  proceed. 

"Yes — now,"  said  I,  "he  is  a  sight  that  would  shock 
the  eye;  we  must  keep  Salome  in  ignorance  as  long  as 
we  can." 

"The  unhappy  girl  knows  his  fate  but  too  well.  He  left 
us  a  few  days  since,  to  obtain  some  intelligence  of  the 
siege.  We  sat,  during  the  night,  listening  to  the  frightful 
sounds  of  battle.  At  daybreak,  unable  any  longer  to  bear 
the  suspense,  or  sit  looking  at  Salome's  wretchedness,  I 


338  SALATBIEL. 

ventured  to  the  Fountain  gate,  and  there  heard  what  I  so 
bitterly  anticipated — our  brave  Constantius  was  slain !" 

She  wept  aloud,  and  sobs  and  cries  of  irrepressible  an- 
guish answered  her  from  the  chamber  of  my  unhappy 
child. 

The  danger  of  a  too  sudden  discovery  prevented  me  from 
drying  those  tears;  and  I  could  proceed  only  by  offering 
conjectures  on  the  various  chances  of  battle,  the  possibility 
of  his  being  made  prisoner,  and  the  general  difficulty  of 
ascertaining  the  fates  of  men  in  the  irregular  combats  of 
a  populace.  But  Salome  sat  fixed  in  cold  incredulity. 
Esther  sorrowfully  kissed  my  hand,  for  the  disposition  to 
give  them  a  ray  of  comfort;  Miriam  gazed  on  me  with  a 
sad  and  searching  look,  as  if  she  felt  that  I  would  not 
tamper  with  their  distresses,  yet  was  deeply  perplexed  for 
the  issue.  At  last  the  delay  grew  painful  to  myself;  and 
taking  Salome  to  my  arms,  and  pressing  a  kiss  of  parental 
love  on  her  pale  cheek,  I  whispered,  "He  lives." 

I  was  overwhelmed  with  transports  and  thanksgivings. 
Precaution  was  at  an  end.  If  battle  were  raging  in  the 
streets,  I  could  not  now  have  restrained  the  generous  im- 
patience of  friendship  and  love.  We  left  the  mansion. 
There  was  not  much  to  leave  besides  the  walls;  but  such 
as  it  was,  the  first  fugitive  was  welcome  to  the  possession. 
Night  was  still  within  the  building,  which  had  belonged  to 
some  of  the  Eoman  officers  of  state,  and  was  massive  and  of 
great  extent.  But  at  the  threshold  the  gray  dawn  came 
quivering  over  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

We  struggled  through  the  long  and  winding  streets, 
which  even  in  the  light  were  nearly  impassable.  From  th<; 
inhabitants  we  met  with  no  impediment ;  a  few  haggard 
and  fierce-looking  men  stared  at  us  from  the  ruins ;  but  we, 
wrapped  up  in  rude  mantles,  and  hurrying  along,  wore  too 
much  the  livery  of  despair  to  be  disturbed  by  our  fellows  in 
wretchedness.  With  a  trembling  heart  I  led  the  way  to  the 
chamber,  where  lay  one  in  whose  life  our  general  happiness 
vas  centred.  Fearful  of  the  shock  which  our  sudden  ap- 
pearance might  give  his  enfeebled  frame,  and  not  less  of  the 
misery  with  which  he  must  be  seen,  I  advanced  alone  to 
the  bedside.  He  gave  no  sign  of  recognition,  though  he 
was  evidently  awake ;  and  I  was  about  to  close  the  cur- 
tains, and  keep,  at  least,  Salome  from  the  hazardous  sight 


8ALATBIEL.  339 

of  this  living  ruin,  when  I  found  her  beside  me.  She  took 
his  hand  and  sat  down  on  the  bed,  with  her  eyes  fixed  on 
his  hollow  features.  She  spoke  not  a  word,  but  sat  cherish- 
ing' the  wasted  hand  in  her  own,  and  kissing  it  with  sad 
fondness.  Her  grief  was  too  sacred  for  our  interference; 
and  in  sorrow  scarcely  less  poignant  than  her  own,  I  led 
apart  Miriam  and  Esther,  who,  like  me,  believed  that  the 
parting  day  was  come ! 

Such  rude  help  as  could  be  found  in  medicine — at  a 
time  when  our  men  of  science  had  fled  the  city,  and  a  few 
herbs  were  the  only  resource — had  not  been  neglected  even 
in  my  distraction.  But  life  seemed  retiring  hour  by  hour ; 
and  if  I  dared  to  contemplate  the  death  of  this  beloved 
being,  it  was  almost  with  a  wish  that  it  had  happened  be- 
fore the  arrival  of  those  to  whom  it  must  be  a  renewal  of 
agony. 

Still,  the  minor  cares,  which  make  so  humble  yet  so 
necessary  a  page  in  the  history  of  life,  were  to  occupy  me. 
Food  must  be  provided  for  the  increased  number  of  my 
inmates ;  and  where  was  that  to  be  found  in  the  circle  of  a 
beleaguered  city?  Money  was  useless,  even  if  I  possessed 
it:  the  friends,  who  would  once  have  snared  their  last  meal 
with  me,  were  exiled  or  slain ;  and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
fierce  populace,  themselves  dying  of  hunger,  that  I  was  to 
glean  the  daily  subsistence  of  my  wife  and  children.  The 
natural  pride  of  the  chieftain  revolted  at  the  idea  of  sup- 
plicating for  food;  but  this  was  one  of  the  questions  that 
show  the  absurdity  of  pride;  and  I  must  beg,  if  I  would 
not  see  them  die.  The  dwelling  had  belonged  to  one  of 
the  noble  families  extinguished,  or  driven  away,  in  the 
first  commotions  of  the  war.  The  factions  which  perpet- 
ually tore  each  other,  and  fought  from  house  to  house,  had 
stripped  its  lofty  halls  of  everything  that  could  be  plun- 
dered in  the  hurry  of  civil  feud;  and  when  I  took  refuge 
under  its  roof  it  looked  the  very  palace  of  desolation.  But 
it  was  a  shelter,  undisturbed  by  the  riots  of  the  crowd,  too 
bare  to  invite  the  robber;  and  even  in  its  vast  and  naked 
chambers,  its  gloomy  passages,  and  frowning  casements, 
congenial  to  the  mood  of  my  mind.  With  Constantius 
insensible  and  dying  before  me,  and  with  my  own  spirit 
darkened  by  an  eternal  cloud,  I  loved  loneliness  and  dark- 
ness. When  the  echo  of  the  winds  came  round  me,  as  J 


sat  during  my  miserable  midnights  watching  the  counte- 
nance of  my  son,  and  moistening  his  feverish  lip  with 
the  water,  that  even  then  was  becoming  a  commodity  of 
rare  price  in  Jerusalem;  I  had  communed  with  memories, 
that  I  would  not  have  exchanged  for  the  brightest  enjoy- 
ments of  life.  I  welcomed  the  sad  music,  in  which  thn 
}  beloved  voices  revisited  my  soul;  what  was  earth  now  to 
me  but  a  tomb?  pomp — nay,  comfort,  would  have  been  a 
mockery.  I  clung  to  the  solitude  and  obscurity  that  gave 
me  the  picture  of  the  grave. 

But  the  presence  of  my  family  made  me  feel  the  wretch- 
edness of  my  abode.  And  when  I  cast  my  eyes  round  the 
squalid  and  chilling  halls,  and  saw  wandering  through 
them  those  gentle  and  delicate  forms,  and  saw  them  trying 
to  disguise  by  smiles  and  cheering  words  the  depression 
that  the  whole  scene  must  inspire,  I  felt  a  pang  that  might 
defy  a  firmer  philosophy  than  mine; — the  despair  that 
finds  its  only  relief  in  scorn. 

"Here,"  said  I  to  Miriam,  as  I  hastened  to  the  door,  "1 
leave  you  mistress  of  a  palace.  The  Asmonean  blood  once 
flourished  within  these  walls;  and  why  not  we?  I  have 
seen  the  nobles  of  the  land  crowded  into  these  chambers. 
They  are  not  so  full  now;  but  we  must  make  the  most  of 
what  we  have.  Those  hangings  that  I  remember,  the 
pride  of  the  Sidonian  who  sold  them,  are  left  to  us  still; 
if  they  are  in  fragments,  they  will  but  show  our  handi- 
work the  more.  We  must  make  our  own  music;  and,  in 
default  of  menials,  serve  with  our  own  hands.  The  pile 
in  that  corner  was  once  a  throne  sent  by  a  Persian  king 
to  the  descendant  of  the  Maccabee ;  it  will  serve  us  at  least 
for  firing.  The  walls  are  thick;  the  roof  may  hold  out 
a  few  storms  more ;  the  casements,  if  they  keep  out  noth- 
ing else,  keep  out  the  daylight,  an  unwelcome  guest,  which 
would  do  anything  but  reconcile  us  to  the  state  of  the 
mansion :  and  now,  farewell  for  a  few  hours." 

Miriam  caught  my  arm,  and  said,  in  that  sweet  tone 
which  always  sank  into  my  heart,  "Salathiel,  you  must  not 
leave  us  in  this  temper.  I  would  rather  hear  }rour  open 
complaints  of  fortune  than  this  affectation  of  contempt 
for  your  calamities.  They  are  many  and  painful,  I  allow ; 
though  I  will  not — dare  not  repine.  They  may  even  be 
such  as  are  beyond  human  cure;  but  who  shall  say  that 


BALATHIEL.  341 

lie  has  deserved  better;  or,  if  he  has,  that  suffering  may 
not  be  the  determined  means  of  exalting  his  nature?  Is 
gold  the  only  thing  that  is  to  be  tried  in  the  fire  ?" 

She  waited  my  answer,  with  a  look  of  dejected  love. 

"Miriam,  I  need  not  say  that  I  respect  and  honor  your 
feelings;  but  no  resignation  can  combat  the  substantial 
evils  of  life.  Will  the  finest  sentiments  that  ever  came 
from  human  lips  make  this  darkness  light,  turn  this  bitter 
wind  into  warmth,  or  make  these  hideous  chambers  but  the 
dungeon  ?" 

"My  husband,  I  dread  this  language,"  was  the  answer, 
with  more  than  usual  solemnity ;  "it  is,  must  I  say  it,  even 
unwise.  Shall  the  creatures  of  the  Power  by  whom  we 
are  placed  in  life  either  defy  His  wrath,  or  disregard  His 
mercy?  Might  we  not  be  more  severely  tasked  than  we 
are?  Are  there  not  thousands  at  this  hour  in  the  world 
who,  with  at  least  equal  claims  to  the  divine  benevolence 
(1  tremble  when  I  use  the  presumptuous  phrase),  are 
undergoing  calamities  to  which  ours  are  happiness  ?  Look 
from  this  very  threshold ;  are  there  not  thousands  within 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem  groaning  in  the  pangs  of  unhealed 
wounds,  mad,  starving,  stripped  of  every  succor  of  man, 
dying  in  hovels,  the  last  survivors  of  their  wretched  race? 
and  yet  we,  still  enjoying  health,  with  a  roof  over  our 
heads,  with  our  children  round  us  safe,  when  the  plague 
of  the  first-born  has  fallen  upon  almost  every  house  in 
Judea,  can  complain !  Be  comforted,  my  love ;  I  see  but 
one  actual  calamity  among  us;  and,  if  Constantius  should 
survive,  even  that  one  would  be  at  an  end." 

I  left  my  gentle  despot,  and  hurried  through  the  echoing 
walls  of  this  palace  of  the  winds.  As  I  approached  the 
great  avenues  leading  from  the  gates  to  the  Temple,  un- 
usual sounds  struck  my  ears.  Hitherto  nothing  in  the 
sadness  of  the  besieged  city  was  sadder  than  its  silence. 
Death  was  lord  of  Jerusalem;  and  the  numberless  ways 
in  which  life  was  extinguished,  had  left  but  the  remnant 
of  its  once  proud  and  flourishing  population. 

But  now  shouts,  and,  still  more,  the  deep  and  perpetual 
murmur  that  bespeaks  the  movements  and  gatherings  of  a 
crowded  city,  astonished  me.  My  first  conception  was, 
that  the  enemy  had  advanced  in  force;  and  I  was  turning 
towards  the  battlements  to  witness,  or  repel  the  general 


342  BALATHIEL. 

fate,  when  was  involved  in  the  multitude  whose  voices 
had  perplexed  me.  It  was  the  season  of  the  Passover.  The 
Roman  barrier  had  hitherto  kept  back  the  tribes;  but  the 
victory  that  left  it  in  embers  opened  the  gates;  and  from 
the  most  death-like  solitude,  we  were  once  more  to  see  the 
sons  of  Judea  filling  the  courts  of  the  city  of  cities. 


CHAPTEE  L. 

NOTHING  could  be  more  unrestrained  than  the  public 
rejoicing.  The  bold  myriads  that  soon  poured  in,  hour  by 
hour,  many  of  them  long  acquainted  with  Roman  battle, 
and  distinguished  for  the  successful  defence  of  their  strong- 
holds; many  of  them  even  bearing  arms  taken  from  the 
enemy,  or  displaying  honorable  scars,  seemed  to  have  come, 
sent  by  Heaven.  The  enemy,  evidently  disheartened  by 
their  late  losses,  and  the  destruction  of  the  rampart  which 
had  cost  them  so  much  labor,  remained  collected  in  their 
camps;  and  access  was  free  from  every  quarter.  The 
rumors  of  our  triumph  had  spread  with  singular  rapidity 
through  the  land;  and  even  the  fearful  phenomenon  that 
wrote  our  undoing  in  the  skies,  stimulated  the  national 
hope.  No  son  of  Abraham  could  believe,  without  the 
strongest  repugnance,  that  Heaven  had  interposed,  and  yet 
interposed  against  the  chosen  people. 

A  living  torrent  had  come,  swelling  into  the  gates;  and 
the  great  avenues  and  public  places  were  quickly  impass- 
able with  the  multitude.  Jerusalem  never  before  contained 
so  vast  a  mass  of  population.  Wherever  the  eye  turned 
were  tents,  fires  and  feasting;  still  the  multitude  wore  an 
aspect  not  such  as  in  former  days.  The  war  had  made  its 
impression  on  the  inmost  spirit  of  our  country.  The  shep- 
herds and  tillers  of  the  ground  had  been  forced  into  the 
habits  of  soldiership;  and  I  saw  before  me,  for  the  gentle 
and  joyous  inhabitants  of  the  field  and  garden,  bands  of 
warriors,  made  fierce  by  the  sullen  necessities  of  the  time. 

The  ruin  in  which  they  found  Jerusalem  increased  their 
gloom.  Groups  were  seen  everywhere  climbing  among  the 
fallen  buildings  to  find  out  the  dwelling  of  some  chief  of 
their  tribe,  and  venting  furious  indignation  on  the  hands 
that  had  overthrown  it.  The  work  of  war  upon  the  famous 


SALATHIEL.  343 

defences  of  the  city  was  a  profanation  in  their  eyes.  Crowds 
rushed  through  the  plain  to  trace  the  spot  where  their 
kindred  fell,  and  gather  their  bones  to  the  tardy  sepulchre. 
Others  rushed  exultingly  over  the  wrecks  of  the  Roman 
soldiery;  burning  them  in  heaps,  that  they  might  not  mix 
with  the  honored  dead.  But  it  was  the  dilapidation  of  the 
Temple  that  struck  them  with  the  deepest  emotion.  The 
singularly  nervous  sensibility  and  unequalled  native  rever- 
ence of  the  Jew  were  fully  awakened  by  the  sight  of  the 
humiliated  sanctuary.  They  knelt  and  kissed  the  pave- 
ments, stained  with  the  marks  of  civil  feud.  They  sent 
forth  deep  lamentations  for  the  dismantled  beauty  of  gate 
and  altar.  They  wrapped  their  mantles  round  their  heads, 
and,  covering  themselves  with  dust  and  ashes,  chanted 
hymns  of  funereal  sorrow  over  the  ruins.  Hundreds  lay, 
embracing  pillar  and  threshold  as  they  would  the  corpse 
of  a  parent  or  a  child,  or,  starting  from  the  ground, 
gathered  on  the  heights  nearest  to  the  enemy,  and  poured 
out  curses  upon  the  "Abomination  of  desolation" — the  idol- 
atrous banner  that  flaunted  over  the  Roman  camps,  and  by 
its  mere  presence  polluted  the  Temple  of  their  fathers. 

In  the  midst  of  this  sorrow — and  never  was  there  more 
real  sorrow — was  the  strange  contrast  of  an  extravagant 
spirit  of  festivity.  The  Passover,  the  grand  celebration 
of  our  law,  had  been,  until  now,  marked  by  a  grave  hom- 
age. Even  its  recollections  of  triumphant  deliverance  and 
illustrious  promise  were  but  slightly  suffered  to  mitigate 
the  general  awe.  But  the  character  of  the  Jew  had  under- 
gone a  signal  change.  Desperate  valor,  and  haughty  con- 
tempt of  all  power  but  that  of  arms,  were  the  impulse  of 
the  time.  The  habits  of  the  camp  were  transferred  to  every 
part  of  life;  and  the  reckless  joy  of  the  soldier  when  the 
battle  is  done,  the  eagerness  of  the  multitude  of  the  disso- 
lute for  immediate  indulgence,  and  the  rude  and  unhal- 
lowed resources  to  while  away  the  heavy  hour  of  idleness 
were  powerfully  and  repulsively  prominent  in  this  final 
coming-up  of  the  nation. 

As  I  struggled  through  the  avenues,  in  search  of  the 
remnant  of  my  tribe,  my  ears  were  perpetually  startled  by 
sounds  of  riot ;  I  saw,  beside  the  spot  where  relations  were 
weeping  over  their  dead,  crowds  drinking,  dancing,  and 
clamoring.  Songs  of  wild  exultation  were  mingled  with 


344  8ALATHIEL. 

the  laments  for  their  country ;  wine  flowed ;  and  the  board, 
loaded  with  careless  profusion,  was  surrounded  by  revellers, 
with  whom  the  carouse  was  perpetually  succeeded  by  the 
quarrel.  The  pharisee  and  scribe,  the  pests  of  society,  were 
once  more  as  busy  as  ever,  bustling  through  the  concourse 
with  supercilious  dignity,  canvassing  for  hearers  in  the 
market-places  as  of  old,  offering  up  their  wordy  devotions 
where  they  might  best  be  seen,  and  quarrelling  with  the 
native  bitterness  of  religious  faction.  Blind  guides  of  the 
blind ;  vipers  and  hypocrites ;  I  think  that  I  see  them  still, 
with  their  turbans  pulled  down  upon  their  scowling  brows ; 
their  mantles  gathered  round  them,  that  they  might  not  be 
degraded  by  a  profane  touch;  and  every  feature  of  their 
acrid  and  worldly  physiognomies,  wrinkled  with  pride,  put 
to  the  torture  by  the  assumption  of  humility. 

Minstrels,  far  unlike  those  who  once  led  the  way  with 
sacred  songs  to  the  gates  of  the  holy  city,  now  flocked  round 
the  tents;  and  companies  of  Greek  and  Syrian  mimes, 
dancers,  and  flute-players,  the  natural  and  fatal  growth  of 
a  period  of  military  relaxation,  were  erecting  their  pavil- 
ions, as  in  the  festivals  of  their  own  profligate  cities. 

Deepening  the  shadows  of  this  fearful  profanation  stood 
forth  the  traders  in  terror !  the  exorcist,  the  soothsayer,  the 
magician  girdled  with  live  serpents,  the  pretended  proph- 
et, naked  and  pouring  out  furious  rhapsodies;  impostors 
of  every  color  and  pursuit,  yet  some  of  those  abhorred  and 
frightful  beings  probably  the  dupes  of  their  own  imposture ; 
some  utterly  frenzied ;  and  some  declaring,  and  doing,  won- 
ders that  showed  a  power  of  evil  never  learned  from  man. 
In  depression  of  heart  I  gave  up  the  effort  to  urge  my 
way  through  scenes  that,  firm  as  I  was,  terrified  me;  and 
turned  towards  my  home,  through  the  steep  path  that 
passed  along  the  outer  court  of  the  Temple.  There  all 
wore  the  mournful  silence  suited  to  the  sanctuary  that  was 
to  see  its  altars  kindled  no  more.  But  the  ruins  were 
crowded  with  kneeling  and  woe-begone  worshippers,  who, 
from  morning  until  night,  clung  to  the  sacred  soil,  and 
wept  for  the  departing  majesty  of  Judah.  I  now  knelt 
with  them,  and  mingled  my  tears  with  theirs. 

Prayer  calmed  my  spirit;  and  before  I  left  the  height  I 
stopped  to  look  again  upon  the  wondrous  expanse  below. 
The  dear  atmosphere  of  the  Ea?t  singularly  diminishes? 


8ALATHIEL.  345 

distance,  and  I  seemed  to  stand  close  by  the  Roman  camps. 
The  valley  at  my  feet  was  living  with  the  new  population 
of  Jerusalem,  clustering  thick  as  bees,  and  sending  up  the 
perpetual  hum  of  their  mighty  hive.  The  sight  was  superb ; 
and  I  involuntarily  exulted  in  the  strength  that  my  country 
was  still  able  to  display  in  the  face  of  her  enemies. 

"Here  were  the  elements  of  mutual  havoc:  but  might 
they  not  be  the  elements  of  preservation?"  The  thought 
occurred  that  now  might  be  the  time  to  make  an  effort  for 
peace.  "We  had,  by  the  repulse  of  the  legionaries,  shown 
them  the  price  which  they  must  pay  for  conquest.  Even 
since  that  repulse  a  new  national  force  had  started  forward, 
armed  with  an  enthusiasm  that  would  perish  only  with  the 
last  man,  and  tenfold  increasing  the  difficulties  of  the  war." 

I  turned  again  to  the  ruins,  where  I  joined  myself  to 
some  venerable  and  influential  men,  who  alike  shuddered  at 
the  excesses  of  the  crowd  below  and  the  catastrophe  that 
prolonged  war  must  bring.  My  advice  produced  an  im- 
pression. The  remnant  of  the  Sanhedrin  were  speedily 
collected,  and  my  proposal  was  adopted  that  a  deputation 
should  immediately  be  sent  to  Titus,  to  ascertain  how  far 
he  was  disposed  to  an  armistice.  The  regular  pacification 
might  then  follow  with  a  more  solemn  ceremonial. 

From  the  top  of  Mount  Moriah  we  anxiously  watched  the 
passage  of  our  envoys  through  the  multitude  that  wandered 
over  the  space  from  Jerusalem  to  the  foot  of  the  enemy's 
position.  We  saw  them  pass  unmolested,  and  enter  the 
Roman  lines;  and  from  the  group  of  officers  of  rank  who 
came  forward  to  meet  them  we  gladly  conjectured  that  their 
reception  was  favorable.  Within  an  hour  we  saw  them 
moving  down  the  side  of  the  hill  on  their  return ;  and,  at 
some  distance  behind,  a  cluster  of  horsemen  slowly  advanc- 
ing. The  deputation  had  executed  its  task  with  success. 
It  was  received  by  Titus  with  Italian  urbanity.  To  its 
representations  of  the  power  subsisting  in  Judea  to  sustain 
the  war,  he  fully  assented;  and  giving  high  praise  to  the 
fortitude  of  the  people,  only  lamented  the  necessary  havoc 
of  war.  To  give  the  stronger  proof  of  his  wish  for  peace, 
his  answer  was  to  be  conveyed  formally  by  a  mission  of  his 
chief  councillors  and  officers  to  the  Sanhedrin. 

The  tidings  were  soon  propagated  among  the  people ;  and 
proud  of  their  strength,  and  irritated  against  the  invader 


346  BALATHIEL. 

as  they  were,  the  prospect  of  relief  from  their  Innumerable 
privations  was  welcomed  with  undisguised  joy.  The  hope 
was  as  cheering  to  the  two  prominent  leaders  of  the  factions 
as  to  any  man  among  us.  John  of  Giscala  had  been  stimu- 
lated into  daring  by  circumstances  alone;  nature  never 
intended  him  for  a  warrior.  Wily,  grasping,  and  selfish, 
cruel  without  personal  boldness,  and  keen  without  intel- 
lectual vigor;  his  only  purpose  was  to  accumulate  money 
and  to  enjoy  power.  The  loftier  objects  of  public  life  were 
beyond  his  narrow  capacity.  He  had  been  rapidly  losing 
even  his  own  objects ;  his  followers  were  deserting  him ; 
and  a  continuance  of  the  war  involved  equally  the  personal 
peril  which  he  feared,  and  the  fall  of  that  tottering  author- 
ity whose  loss  would  leave  him  to  insulted  justice. 

Simon,  the  son  of  Gioras,  was  altogether  of  a  higher  class 
of  mankind.  He  was  by  nature  a  soldier,  and  might  have 
in  other  times,  risen  to  a  place  among  the  celebrated  names 
of  war.  But  the  fierceness  of  the  period  inflamed  his  spirit 
into  savage  atrocity.  In  the  tumults  of  the  city  he  had  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  that  unhesitating  hardihood  which 
values  neither  its  own  life  nor  those  of  others;  and  his 
daring  threw  the  hollow  and  artificial  character  of  his  rival 
deeply  into  the  shade.  But  he  found  a  different  adversary 
in  the  Eoman.  His  brute  bravery  was  met  by  intelligent 
valor;  his  rashness  was  baffled  by  the  discipline  of  the 
legions ;  and,  weary  of  conflicts  in  which  he  was  sure  to  be 
defeated,  he  had  long  left  the  field  to  the  irregular  sallies 
of  the  tribes,  and  contented  himself  with  prowess  in  city 
feud  and  the  preservation  of  his  authority  against  the 
dagger. 

Peace  with  Home  would  thus  have  relieved  both  John 
and  Simon  from  the  danger  which  threatened  to  overwhelm 
them  alike:  to  the  citizens  it  would  have  given  an  instant 
change  from  the  terrors  of  assault  to  tranquillity,  and  to  the 
nation  the  hope  of  an  existence  made  splendidly  secure  by 
its  having  been  won  from  the  master  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

THE  movement  of  the  Roman  mission  through  the  plain 
marked  by  loud  shouts,     As  it  approached  the  gates 


SALATHIEL.  347 

our  little  council  descended  from  the  temple-porch  to  meet 
it,  where  one  of  the  open  places  in  the  centre  of  the  city 
was  appointed  for  the  conference.  The  applauding  roar  of 
the  people  followed  the  troops  through  the  streets,  and 
when  the  tribunes  and  senators  entered  the  square,  and 
gave  us  the  right  hand  of  amity,  universal  acclamation 
shook  the  air.  A  gleam  of  joy  revisited  my  heart,  and  I 
was  on  the  point  of  ascending  an  elevation  in  the  centre,  to 
announce  the  terms  of  this  fortunate  armistice,  when,  to 
my  astonishment,  I  saw  the  spot  preoccupied. 

Whence  came  the  intruder  no  one  could  tell;  but  there 
he  stood,  a  figure  that  fixed  the  universal  eye.  He  was  of 
gigantic  stature,  brown  as  an  Indian,  and  thin  as  one  worn 
to  the  last  extremity  by  disease  or  famine.  Conjecture  was 
5usy.  He  seemed  alternately  the  fugitive  from  a  dungeon 
— one  of  the  half-savage  recluses  that  sometimes  came  from 
their  dens  in  the  wilderness  to  exhibit  among  us  the  last 
humiliation  of  mind  and  body — a  dealer  in  forbidden  arts, 
attempting  to  impose  on  the  credulity  of  the  populace,  and 
a  prophet  armed  with  the  fearful  knowledge  of  our  ap- 
proaching fall.  To  me  there  was  an  expression  in  his 
countenance  that  partook  of  all ;  yet  there  was  a  something 
different  from  all  in  the  glaring  eye,  the  livid  scorn  of  the 
lip,  and  the  wild  and  yet  grand  outline  of  features,  which 
appeared  alike  overflowing  with  malignity  and  majesty. 

No  man  thought  of  interrupting  him.  A  powerful  in- 
terest hushed  every  voice  of  the  multitude,  and  the  only 
impulse  was  eagerness  to  hear  the  lofty  wisdom  or  the 
fatal  tidings  that  must  be  deposited  with  such  a  being.  He 
himself  seemed  to  be  overwhelmed  with  the  magnitude  of 
the  thoughts  that  he  was  commissioned  to  disclose.  He 
stood  for  a  while  with  the  look  of  one  oppressed  by  a  fear- 
ful dream,  his  bosom  heaving,  his  teeth  gnashing,  every 
muscle  of  his  meagre  frame  swelling  and  quivering.  He 
strongly  clasped  his  bony  arms  across  his  breast,  as  if  to 
repress  the  agitation  that  impeded  his  words;  he  stamped 
on  the  ground,  in  apparent  wrath  at  the  faculties  which 
thus  sank  under  him  at  the  important  moment;  at  last 
the  tempest  of  his  soul  broke  forth: 

"Judah !  thou  wert  a  lion — thou  wert  as  the  king  of  the 
forest,  when  he  went  up  to  the  mountains  to  slay,  and  from 
the  mountains  came  down  to  devour,  Thou  wert  as  the 


3 18  8ALATHIEL. 

garden  of  Eden,  every  precious  stone  was  thy  covering ;  the 
sardine,  the  topaz,  and  the  beryl  were  thy  pavements;  thy 
fountains  were  of  silver,  and  thy  daughters  that  walked  in 
thy  groves,  were  as  the  cherubim  and  the  seraphim. 

"Judah !  thy  temple  was  glorious  as  the  sun-rising,  and 
thy  priests  were  the  wise  of  the  earth.  Kings  came  against 
thee,  and  their  bones  were  an  offering;  the  fowls  of  the  air 
devoured  them ;  the  foxes  brought  their  young,  and  feasted 
them  upon  the  mighty. 

"Judah !  thou  wert  a  fire  in  the  midst  of  the  nations — a 
fire  upon  an  altar;  who  shall  quench  thee?  A  sword  over 
the  neck  of  the  heathen;  who  shall  say  unto  thee,  Smite 
no  more !  Thou  wert  as  the  thunder  and  the  lightning : 
thou  earnest  from  thy  place,  and  the  earth  was  dark.  Thou 
didst  thunder,  and  the  nations  shook;  and  the  fire  of  thy 
indignation  consumed  them." 

The  voice  in  which  this  extraordinary  being  uttered  those 
words  was  like  the  thunder.  The  multitude  listened  with 
breathless  awe.  The  appeal  was  to  them  a  renewal  of  the 
times  of  inspiration,  and  they  awaited  with  outstretched 
hands  and  quivering  countenances  the  sentence  that  their 
passions  interpreted  into  the  will  of  Heaven. 

The  figure  lifted  up  his  glance,  which  had  hitherto  been 
fixed  on  the  ground ;  and,  whether  it  was  the  work  of  fancy 
or  reality,  I  thought  that  the  glance  threw  an  actual  beam 
of  fire  across  the  upturned  visages  of  the  myriads  that 
filled  every  spot  on  which  a  foot  could  rest — roof,  wall,  and 
ground. 

Bowing  his  head,  and  raising  his  hands  in  the  most 
solemn  adoration  towards  the  Temple,  he  pursued,  in  a 
voice  scarcely  above  a  whisper,  yet  indescribably  impres- 
sive: 

"Sons  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob!  people  elect 
and  holy !  will  you  suffer  that  house  of  holiness  to  be  the 
scoff  of  the  idolater?  Will  you  see  the  polluted  sacrifice 
laid  upon  its  altars  ?  Will  you  be  slaves  in  the  presence  of 
the  house  of  David?" 

A  rising  outcry  of  the  multitude  showed  how  deeply  they 
felt  his  words.  A  fierce  smile  lightened  across  his  features 
at  the  sound.  He  erected  his  colossal  form,  and  cried  out 
like  the  roar  of  a  whirlwind,  "Then,  men  of  Judah !  be 
strong,  and  follow  the  hand  that  led  you  through  the  sea 


8ALATB1EL,  349 

and  through  the  desert.  Is  that  hand  shortened,  that  it 
cannot  save  ?  Break  off  this  accursed  league  with  the  sons 
of  Belial.  Fly  every  man  to  arms,  for  the  glory  of  the 
mighty  people.  Go,  and  let  the  sword  that  smote  the 
Canaanite  smite  the  Roman." 

He  was  answered  with  furious  exultation.  Swords  and 
poniards  were  brandished  in  the  air.  The  safety  of  the 
Roman  officers  became  endangered,  and  I,  with  some  of  the 
elders,  dreadiiig  a  result  which  must  throw  fatal  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  pacification,  attempted  to  control  the  popular 
violence  by  reason  and  entreaty.  But  the  spirit  of  the 
Romans,  haughty  with  conquest  and  long  contempt  of  the 
multitude,  disdained  to  take  precautions  with  a  mob,  and 
they  awaited  with  palpable  contempt  the  subsiding  of  this 
city  effervescence.  This  silent  scorn,  which  probably  stung 
the  deeper  for  its  silence,  was  retorted  by  clamors  of  un- 
equivocal rage.  The  mysterious  disturber  saw  the  storm 
coming,  and  flinging  a  furious  gesture  towards  the  Roman 
camps,  which  lay  glittering  in  the  sunshine  along  the  hills, 
he  rushed  into  the  loftiest  language  of  malediction. 

"Take  up  a  lament  for  the  Roman,"  he  shouted.  "He 
comes  like  a  leviathan;  he  troubleth  the  waters  with  his 
presence,  and  the  rivers  behold  him,  and  are  afraid. 

"Thus  saith  the  king,  he  who  holdeth  Israel  in  the  hol- 
low of  his  hand:  I  will  spread  my  net  over  thee,  and  my 
people  shall  drag  thee  upon  the  shore;  I  will  leave  thee  to 
rot  upon  the  land;  I  will  fill  the  beasts  of  the  earth  with 
thee,  until  they  shall  come  and  find  thee,  dry  bones  and 
dust — even  thy  glory  turned  into  a  taint  and  a  scorn. 

"Lift  up  a  cry  over  Rome,  and  say,  Thou  art  the  leopard ; 
thy  jaws  are  red  with  blood,  and  thy  claws  are  heavy  be- 
cause of  the  multitude  of  the  slain ;  thy  spots  are  glorious 
and  thy  feet  are  like  wings  for  swiftness.  But  thy  time 
is  at  hand.  My  arrow  shall  smite  through  thee ;  my  .sword 
shall  go  through  thee;  I  will  lay  thy  flesh  upon  the  hills; 
thy  blood  shall  be  red  in  the  rivers ;  the  pits  shall  be  full 
of  thee. 

"For  thus  saith  the  king :  I  have  not  forsaken  my  chil- 
dren. For  my  pleasure  I  have  given  them  over  for  a  little 
while  to  the  hands  of  the  oppressor;  but  they  have  loved 
me — they  have  come  before  me,  and  offered  up  sacrifices; 
and  shall  I  desert  the  land  of  the  chosen,  the  sons  of  the 


350  SALATBIEL. 

glorious,  my  people  Israel !"  A  universal  outcry  of  wrath 
and  triumph  followed  this  allusion  to  the  national  venge- 
ance. 

"Ho !"  exclaimed  the  figure.  "Men  of  Israel  hear  the 
words  of  wisdom.  The  burden  of  Rome.  By  the  swords  of 
the  mighty  will  I  cause  her  multitude  to  fall ;  the  terrible 
and  the  strong  shall  be  on  thee,  city  of  the  idolater;  they 
shall  hew  off  thy  cuirasses  as  the  hewer  of  wood,  and  of 
thy  shields  they  shall  make  vessels  of  water.  There  shall 
be  fire  in  thy  palaces,  and  the  sword.  Thy  sons  and  thy 
daughters  shall  they  consume,  and  thy  precious  things  shall 
be  a  spoil  when  "the  king  shall  give  the  sign  from  the  sanc- 
tuary." He  paused,  and,  lifting  up  his  fleshless  arm,  stood, 
like  a  giant  bronze,  pointing  to  the  Temple. 

To  the  utter  astonishment  of  all,  a  vapor  was  seen  to 
ascend  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Moriah,  wreathing  and 
white  like  the  smoke  that  used  to  mark  the  daily  sacrifice. 
Our  first  conception  was,  that  this  great  rite  was  resumed ; 
and  the  shout  of  joy  was  on  our  lips.  But,  the  vapor  had 
scarcely  parted  from  the  crown  of  the  hill,  when  it  black- 
ened, and  began  to  whirl  with  extraordinary  rapidity;  it 
thenceforth  less  ascended  than  shot  up,  perpetually  dark- 
ening and  distending.  The  horizon  grew  dim ;  the  cloudy 
canopy  above  continued  to  spread  and  revolve;  lightning 
began  to  quiver  through;  and  we  heard,  at  intervals,  low 
peals  of  thunder.  But  no  rain  fell,  and  the  wind  was  life- 
less. Nothing  could  be  more  complete  than  the  calm;  not 
a  hair  of  our  heads  was  moved,  yet  the  heart  of  the  count- 
less multitude  was  penetrated  with  the  dread  of  some  im- 
pending catastrophe  that  restrained  every  voice;  and  the 
silence  itself  was  awful. 

In  the  climate  of  Judea  we  were  accustomed  to  the  rapid 
rise  and  violent  devastations  of  tempests.  But  the  rising 
of  this  storm,  so  closely  connected  with  the  appearance  of 
the  strange  summoner,  that  it  almost  followed  his  com- 
mand ;  invested  a  phenomenon,  at  all  times  fearful,  with  a 
character  that  might  have  struck  firmer  minds  than  those 
of  the  enthusiasts  round  him.  To  heighten  the  wonder,  the 
progress  of  the  storm  still  seemed  faithful  to  the  com- 
mand. Wherever  this  man  of  mystery  waved  his  arm,  there 
rushed  a  sheet  of  cloud.  The  bluest  tract  of  heaven  was 
as  black  as  night,  at  the  moment  when  he  turned  his  om- 


351 

inous  presence  towards  it,  until  there  was  no  more  sky 
to  be  obliterated,  and,  but  for  the  fiery  streaks  that  tore 
through,  we  should  have  stood  under  a  canopy  of  solid 
gloom. 

At  length,  the  whirlwind,  that  we  had  seen  driving  and 
rolling  the  clouds  like  billows,  burst  upon  us;  scattering 
fragments  of  the  buildings  far  and  wide,  and  cutting  a 
broad  way  through  the  overthrown  multitude.  Then,  super- 
stition and  terror  were  loud-mouthed.  The  populace, 
crushed  and  dashed  down,  exclaimed  that  a  volcano  was 
throwing  up  flame  from  -the  mount  of  the  Temple;  that 
sulphurous  smokes  were  rising  through  the  crevices  of  the 
ground;  that  the  rocking  of  an  earthquake  was  felt;  and, 
still  more  terrible,  that  beings  not  to  be  looked  on,  nor 
even  to  be  named,  were  hovering  round  them  in  the  storm. 

The  general  rush  of  the  people,  in  which  hundreds  were 
trampled,  and  in  which  nothing  but  the  most  violent  efforts 
could  keep  any  on  their  feet,  bore  me  away  for  awhile.  The 
struggle  was  sufficient  to  absorb  all  my  senses,  for  nothing 
could  be  more  perilous.  The  darkness  was  intense;  the 
peals  of  the  storm  were  deafening;  and  the  howlings  and 
fury  of  the  crowd,  trampling  and  being  trampled  on,  and 
fighting  for  life  in  blindness  and  despair,  with  hand,  foot, 
and  dagger,  made  an  uproar  louder  than  that  of  the  storm. 
In  this  conflict,  rather  of  demons  than  of  men,  I  was 
whirled  away  in  eddy  after  eddy,  until  chance  brought 
me  again  to  the  foot  of  the  elevation. 

There  I  beheld  a  new  wonder.  A  column  of  livid  fire 
stood  upon  it,  reaching  to  the  clouds.  I  could  discern  the 
outline  of  a  human  form  within.  But,  while  I  expected  to 
see  it  drop  dead,  or  blasted  to  a  cinder,  the  flame  spread 
over  the  ground,  and  I  saw  its  strange  inhabitant  making 
signs  like  those  of  incantation.  He  drew  a  circle  upon  the 
burning  soil,  poured  out  some  unguent  which  diffused  a 
powerful  and  rich  odor,  razed  the  skin  of  his  arm  with  a 
dagger,  and  let  fall  some  drops  of  blood  into  the  blaze. 

I  shuddered  at  the  sight  of  those  palpable  appeals  to 
the  power  of  Evil ;  but  I  was  pressed  upon  by  thousands, 
and  retreat  was  impossible.  The  strange  being  then,  with 
a  ghastly  smile  of  triumph,  waved  the  weapon  towards  the 
Eoman  camps.  "Behold,"  he  cried,  "the  beginnings  of 
vengeance!"  A  thunder-roll  that  almost  split  the  ear, 


352  &ALATBIEL. 

echoed  round  the  hills.  The  darkness  passed  away  with  it. 
Above  Jerusalem  the  sky  cleared,  and  cleared  into  a  trans- 
lucence  and  blue  splendor  unrivalled  by  the  brightest  sun- 
shine. The  people,  wrought  up  to  the  highest  expectancy, 
shouted  at  this  promise  of  a  prouder  deliverance,  and  ex- 
claiming, "Goshen !  Goshen !"  looked  breathlessly  for  the 
completion  of  the  plague,  upon  the  more  than  Egyptian  op- 
pressor. They  were  not  held  long  in  suspense. 

The  storm  had  cleared  away  above  our  heads,  only  to 
gather  in  deeper  terrors  round  the  circle  of  hills  on  which 
we  could  see  the  enemy,  in  the  most  overwhelming  state  of 
alarm.  The  clouds  rushed  on,  ridge  over  ridge,  until  the 
whole  horizon  seemed  shut  in  by  a  wall  of  night,  towering 
to  the  skies.  I  heard  the  deep  voice  of  the  orator;  at  the 
utterance  of  some  strange  words,  a  gleam  played  round  his 
dagger's  point,  and  the  wall  of  darkness  was  instantly  a 
wall  of  fire.  The  storm  was  let  loose  in  its  rage.  While 
we  stood  in  daylight  and  in  perfect  calm,  the  lightning 
poured  like  sheets  of  rain,  or  gushes  of  burning  metal  from 
a  furnace,  upon  the  enemy.  The  vast  circuit  of  the  camps 
was  instantly  one  blaze.  The  wind  tore  everything  before 
it  with  irresistible  violence.  We  saw  the  tents  swept  off 
the  ground,  and  driven  far  over  the  hills  in  flames,  like 
meteors;  the  piles  of  arms  and  banners  blown  away;  the 
soldiery  clinging  to  the  rocks,  flying  together  in  helpless 
crowds,  or  scattering  like  maniacs,  with  hair  and  garments 
on  fire;  the  baggage  and  military  machines,  the  turrets 
and  ramparts  sinking  in  flames;  the  beasts  of  burthen 
plunging  and  rushing  through  the  lines,  or  lying  in  smould- 
ering heaps  where  the  lightning  first  smofe  them.  All 
was  conflagration! 


CHAPTER  LIT. 

THE  Roman  embassy  had  hitherto  remained  in  stern 
composure.  The  visitations  of  nature  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  sustain ;  the  perturbations  of  a  Jewish  mob  were 
beneath  the  notice  of  the  universal  conquerors.  But  the 
sight  of  the  havoc  among  their  countrymen  shook  their 
stoicism ;  and  the  cavalry  that  formed  the  escort  burst  into 
indignant  murmurs  at  the  exultation  of  the  multitudes; 


8ALATHIEL.  353 

until  the  commander  of  the  troop,  whose  arms  and  bear- 
ing showed  him  to  be  of  the  highest  rank,  unable  to 
restrain  his  feelings,  spurred  to -the  front  of  the  embar- 
rassed mission. 

"How  long,"  exclaimed  he,  "senators,  shall  we  stand 
here  to  be  scoffed  at  by  these  wretches?  The  imperial 
guard  feels  itself  disgraced  by  such  a  service.  Will  you 
have  the  squadron  openly  mutiny?  If  they  should  ride 
away  and  leave  us  to  ourselves,  who  could  blame  them? 
What  will  the  noble  Titus  say,  when  we  return  to  tell  him 
that  we  stood  by  and  listened  to  the  taunts  of  those  cooped- 
up  slaves,  on  him,  the  army,  and  Rome  ?" 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  speaker  that  he  spoke  in  a 
language  but  little  known  to  our  bold  peasantry.  The  sen- 
ators held  their  peace,  and  waited  for  the  subsiding  of  the 
popular  effervescence. 

"Noble  ^Emilius !"  exclaimed  the  fiery  youth,  to  a  grave 
and  lofty-countenanced  man,  at  the  head  of  the  mission, 
"to  remain  here  is  only  to  risk  your  safety,  and  the  honor 
of  the  emperor.  Treaty  with  this  people  is  out  of  the 
question.  Give  me  the  order  to  disperse  this  rabble,  and  a 
single  charge  will  decide  the  affair." 

He  threw  himself  forward  on  his  horse's  neck,  and  fixed 
his  look  eagerly  on  the  senator's  countenance.  But  the 
old  Roman  was  immovable.  The  man  of  prophecy,  who 
had  stood,  with  his  robe  wrapped  round  his  arms,  in  an 
attitude  of  contemptuous  ease,  awaiting  the  result  of  the 
demand,  burst  into  loud  laughter.  The  young  soldier's 
indignation  was  roused  by  this  new  object.  He  turned  to 
the  scorner,  and  crying  out,  "Ho !  is  it  you,  miscreant  ? 
you  at  least  shall  not  escape  me,"  flung  his  lance  full 
against  his  bosom.  I  saw  the  weapon  strike  with  pro- 
digious force ;  but  it  might  as  well  have  struck  a  rock.  It 
flew  into  splinters. 

The  Roman  rushed  at  him  with  his  drawn  falchion. 
His  strange  antagonist  stood  without  moving  a  limb,  and 
only  raised  his  cold,  large  eye.  The  charger,  in  his  fiercest 
bound,  instantly  swerved,  and  had  nearly  unseated  his 
rider.  Nothing  could  bring  him  forward  again.  Spur 
and  voice  were  useless.  The  animal,  a  magnificent  jet 
black,  of  the  largest  Arab  breed,  strong  as  a  bull  and 
bold  as  a  lion,  could  not  abide  that  stern  eye.  He  galloped 


354 

madly  round  and  round,  but  the  attempt  to  force  him 
against  the  stranger  stopped  him,  as  if  he  were  stabbed. 
Then,  with  every  muscle  in  his  frame  palpitating,  his 
broad  chest  heaving,  his  nostrils  breathing  out  vapor,  and 
the  foam  flying  over  his  front  like  snow,  he  would  plunge 
and  rear;  until,  mastering  his  powerful  rider,  he  wheeled 
round,  and  darted  away. 

The  shouts  of  scorn  that  rose  from  the  populace  at  every 
fresh  failure,  doubly  enraged  the  young  Roman.  He  made 
a  final  effort,  and  grasping  the  bridle  in  both  hands,  and 
dashing  in  the  spur,  at  length  succeeded  in  forcing  the 
wearied  charger  on.  The  noble  creature,  at  one  immense 
leap,  reached  the  fatal  spot.  But,  there  he  was  fixed  as 
if  some  power  had  transformed  him  into  stone.  He  no 
longer  staggered  nor  swerved,  but  crouching  down,  with 
his  feet  thrust  forward,  his  crest  stooped,  his  nostrils  on 
the  ground,  and  his  bright  eye  strained  and  filmy,  as  if 
he  were  growing  blind,  stood  gazing  with  a  look  of  almost 
human  horror.  The  furious  rider  struck  him  on  the 
head  with  the  flat  of  his  falchion.  The  charger  gathered 
tip  his  limbs  at  the  blow,  reared  straight  as  a  column,  and 
bellowing,  plunged  upon  his  head.  There  was  a  general 
cry  of  terror,  even  among  the  multitude,  and  they  rushed 
forward  to  help  him  to  rise.  But  he  rose  no  more.  He 
rolled  over  and  over  his  rider,  and  stretching  out  his 
limbs  in  a  convulsion,  died. 

The  tumult  was  on  the  point  of  being  renewed ;  for  the 
soldiery  pushed  forward  to  bear  away  their  officer,  who 
lay  like  a  corpse;  but  the  crowd  had  already  covered  the 
ground,  and  blows  were  given  on  both  sides.  Indignant 
at  the  interruption  of  the  armistice,  and  the  injury  that 
threatened  the  sacred  person  of  ambassadors,  I  dashed 
my  way  through  the  crowd;  by  exerting  a  strength  with 
which  few  could  cope,  rescued  the  young  Roman;  and 
delivering  him  to  the  mission,  protested  against  their  con- 
struing the  casual  violence  of  rioters  into  the  determina- 
tion of  the  people. 

I  had  partially  succeeded  in  calming  their  resentment, 
and  in  restraining  the  bloodthirsty  weapons  that  were 
already  glittering  in  numberless  hands,  when  a  sound  like 
that  of  a  trumpet,  distant,  but  blown  with  tremendous 
force,  struck  every  ear  at  once. 


SALAT8IEL.  355 

I  looked  involuntarily  to  the  man,  who  had  already 
been  lour  disturber.  He  pointed  to  the  heavens.  A  frag- 
ment of  cloud,  that  seemed  to  have  escaped  from  the  mass 
of  the  tempest,  was  floating  along  the  zenith.  He  took  up 
his  parable:  "Have  I  not  covered  the  heavens  with  a 
cloud?  saith  the  Mighty  One.  Have  I  not  said  to  the 
sun,  Be  dark;  and  to  the  moon  and  stars,  Be  ashamed? 
Have  I  not  hidden  mine  enemies  in  the  shroud,  and  said 
to  the  whirlwind,  Go  forth  and  slay?" 

Whether  by  the  proverbial  sagacity  of  the  wanderers  of 
the  desert,  by  one  of  those  coincidences  which  so  curi- 
ously come  to  sustain  the  credit  of  daring  conjecture,  or  by 
knowledge  from  some  darker  sources,  the  little  orbed  va- 
por began  to  lengthen,  and  rapidly  assumed  the  shape  of  a 
sword ! 

Dreading  the  popular  power  of  imposture,  and  the  uses 
to  which  it  would  inevitably  be  applied,  I  was  glad  that 
this  extraordinary  being  had  thus  put  himself  upon  his 
trial ;  and  I  stood  gazing  in  eager  expectation  that  some 
passing  gust  would  dissipate  at  once  the  cloud  and  the 
reputation  of  the  prophet.  Yet,  utterly  scorning  the  com- 
mon pretensions  of  the  rambling  practisers  of  forbidden 
arts,  I  knew  that  awful  things  had  been  done;  that,  most 
of  all,  in  these  latter  days  of  our  country,  strange  in- 
fluences were  let  loose,  perhaps  to  plunge  into  deeper 
ruin  a  people  guiltily  prone  to  take  refuge  in  delusions.  I 
had  heard  prophecies,  hideous  and  unholy,  which  were 
never  taught  by  man;  I  had  seen  a  command  of  the  ele- 
ments, that  utterly  defied  philosophy  to  account  for  them; 
if,  in  the  last  vengeance  of  Heaven,  evil  spirits  were  ever 
suffered  to  go  forth,  and  give  their  power  to  evil  men, 
for  the  purpose  of  binding  in  the  faster  chains  of  false- 
hood a  race  who  loved  a  lie;  it  was,  in  those  hours  of 
signs  and  wonders,  which  might,  if  possible,  deceive  the 
very  elect. 

To  my  astonishment,  the  cloud  suddenly  changed  its 
color:  from  white  it  became  intensely  red;  and,  in  a  few 
moments  more,  it  burst  into  a  flame,  that  threw  a  broad 
reflection  upon  the  whole  atmosphere.  It  was,  palpably, 
a  vast  falchion  of  fire.  And  from  that  hour,  to  the  last 
of  the  glorious  and  unhappy  city  of  David,  that  flaming 
sword — the  sign  of  a  wrath,  predicted  a  thousand  years 
before,  blazed,  day  and  night,  over  Jerusalem ! 


356  BALATHIEL. 

Its  instant  effect  was  terrible.  The  multitude,  already 
indignant  against  the  Eomans,  and  restrained  only  by  my 
desperate  efforts,  were  now  roused  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
presumption.  To  doubt  of  the  help  of  Heaven  was  im- 
piety, after  this  open  wonder;  to  spare  an  hour  between 
this  divine  command  and  the  extermination  of  the  idola- 
ter, was  sacrilege.  They  poured  round  the  unfortunate 
troop,  and  instantly  overwhelmed  them,  as  an  earthquake 
would  have  overwhelmed  them.  A  mass  of  human  life, 
dense  as  the  ground  it  trod  upon,  broke  over  them.  The 
Eomans  struggled  heroically:  I  saw  their  charges  often 
make  fearful  way;  and  their  swords  and  lances  dripping 
with  blood  every  time  that  they  were  whirled  round  their 
heads.  But  the  conflict  was  too  unequal:  one  by  one 
those  brave  men  were  torn  down;  I  saw  them  swept  along 
by  the  torrent,  fewer  and  fewer  still  above  the  living  wave ; 
gradually  separated  more  widely  from  each  other;  each 
man  faintly  struggling  for  himself,  flinging  his  feeble 
arms  to  the  right  and  left,  till,  dizzy  with  fatigue  and 
despair,  at  last  he  went  down,  and  the  roaring  tide  closed 
over  him. 

All  perished;  and  a  day  of  hope  was  closed  in  supersti- 
tion, treachery,  and  inexpiable  murder. 

The  dreadful  uproar  sank  as  suddenly  as  it  had  risen. 
The  Roman  troop  lay  a  heap  of  dead.  I  turned  away  from 
the  sight ;  but  at  the  instant  of  turning,  I  saw  the  prophet 
of  evil,  whether  impostor  or  magician,  whether  man  or 
demon,  spring  into  their  midst  with  a  roar  of  laughter. 
I  shrank  away.  But  I  heard  that  terrible  laugh  ringing 
through  all  the  streets  of  Jerusalem! 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

IT  was  night,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the  city  lay 
between  me  and  home.  To  traverse  it  was  still  a  matter 
of  danger.  Furious  festivity  had  succeeded  to  furious  con- 
flict: the  roving  mountaineers  made  little  difference  be- 
tween a  stranger  and  an  enemy;  and  whether  inflamed 
with  wine  or  triumph,  the  carousers,  on  that  night,  were 
the  masters  of  Jerusalem.  I  kept  my  course  through  the 
less  frequented  ways;  and  leaving  on  either  side  the  great 


BALATHIEL.  357 

avenues,  crowded  with  tents  and  glittering  with  illumi- 
nation, committed  myself  to  the  quiet  light  of  the  moon. 

But,  in  choosing  the  more  solitary  streets,  I  was,  without 
recollecting  it,  led  into  the  open  place  where  the  late  dis- 
turbance had  begun;  and  I  felt  some  vague  dread  of  pass- 
ing a  spot  on  which  had  appeared  a  being  so  singular  as 
the  leader  of  the  tumult. 

By  a  compromise  with  my  prudence,  I  kept  as  far  from 
the  hillock  as  possible,  and  was  moving  rapidly  by  the  wall 
of  one  of  the  huge  buildings  of  Herod,  when  I  heard  a 
groan.  In  the  nervousness  of  the  time,  and  doubtful  from 
what  region  of  earth  or. air,  my  antagonist,  in  that  place 
of  spells,  might  come,  I  drew  my  dagger,  with  a  sensation 
that  I  had  never  felt  in  the  field,  and  setting  my  back 
against  the  wall,  stood  on  my  defence.  But  a  wounded 
man,  the  utterer  of  the  groan,  now  tottered  into  the  light, 
and  fell  before  me.  I  recognized  the  commander  of  the 
escort.  The  dying  struggles  of  his  charger  had  crushed 
him;  and  the  multitude  had  abandoned  him  to  his  fate. 

To  leave  him  where  he  was,  was  to  leave  him  to  perish. 
I  owed  something  to  the  survivor  of  the  unfortunate  mis- 
sion; and  my  short  consultation  closed  by  carrying  him 
on  my  shoulders  to  the  door  of  my  comfortless  dwelling. 

The  Roman  had  formidably  learned  to  distrust  Jewish 
fidelity.  The  gloom  inside  the  entrance  looked  the  very 
color  of  secret  murder.  Even  the  dismantled  appearance 
of  the  exterior  was  enough  for  suspicion;  and  he  firmly 
ordered  that  I  should  terminate  my  good  offices  at  the 
threshold.  Irritated  by  his  obvious  meaning,  I  left  him  to 
his  wish ;  and  placing  him  in  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  such 
security  as  the  open  street  and  the  moonlight  could  give, 
took  my  farewell,  bidding  him  in  future  to  have  a  better 
opinion  of  mankind. 

Yet  I  was  to  be  startled  in  my  turn.  As  I  rather 
climbed  than  ascended  the  broken  staircases,  I  saw  an 
unusual  light  in  the  chambers  above.  Accustomed  as  I 
was  to  reverses,  I  felt  tenfold  alarm,  from  the  precious- 
Bess  of  my  stake.  The  ferocious  bands  that  crowded  the 
streets,  inflamed  with  wine  and  blood,  could  have  no 
scruples  where  plunder  tempted  them;  and  in  the  strong 
persuasion  that  some  misfortune  had  happened  in  my  long 
absence,  I  lingered  in  doubt  whether  I  should  not  return 


358  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

to  the  streets,  collect  what  assistance  I  could  find  among 
the  passers-by,  and  crush  the  robbers  by  main  force.  But 
sudden  exclamations,  and  hurried  feet  above,  left  me  no 
time;  I  darted  up  the  shattered  steps,  and  breathlessly 
threw  open  the  door. 

Well  might  I  wonder.  I  saw  a  superb  room,  hung 
with  tapestry,  a  table  in  the  centre  covered  with  plate 
and  viands,  a  rich  lamp  illuminating  the  chamber,  stately 
furniture,  a  fire  blazing  on  a  tripod,  and  throwing  a  cheer- 
ing warmth  and  delicious  odor  round;  yet,  to  enjoy  all 
this,  not  a  living  creature.  But  whatever  my  anxieties 
might  be,  they  were  delightfully  scattered  by  the  voice  of 
Esther,  who  came  flying  towards  me  with  outstretched 
arms,  and  a  face  bright  with  joy.  From  an  inner  chamber 
followed  more  messengers  of  good  tidings — Miriam  and 
Salome  leading  Constantius !  They  had  watched  over 
him  from  the  time  of  my  departure  with  a  sickly  alter- 
nation of  hope  and  fear;  as  the  evening  approached  he 
seemed  dying.  Salome,  with  the  jealousy  of  deep  sorrow, 
desired  to  be  left  alone  with  him;  and  the  two  sad  lis- 
teners at  the  door  expected  at  every  moment  the  burst 
of  agony  announcing  his  irreparable  loss.  They  heard  a 
cry  of  joy;  the  torpor  was  gone,  and  Constantius  was  sit- 
ting up,  raised  to  new  life,  wondering  at  all  round  him, 
and  uttering  the  raptures  of  gratitude  and  love ! 

The  sound  that  had  impelled  me  to  my  abrupt  en- 
trance was  the  joy  of  my  family  at  bringing  the  recovered 
patient  in  triumph  from  his  weary  bed  into  view  of  the 
comforts  provided  for  him  and  for  me.  The  change 
wrought  in  the  chamber  itself  was  explained  by  the  pres- 
ence of  two  old  domestics,  who,  in  the  flight  of  the  former 
possessors,  had  been  overlooked,  and  suffered  to  hide,  rather 
than  live,  in  a  corner  of  the  ruin.  They  had  contrived  in  t 
the  general  spoliation,  to  secrete  some  of  the  precious 
things,  which  the  haste  of  plunder  had  not  time  to  seize. 
The  presence  of  a  noble  family  under  the  honored  roof 
once  more  brought  out  their  feelings  and  treasures  to- 
gether ;  and  by  the  graceful  dexterity  of  Miriam  and  Esther 
were  those  sad  walls  converted  into  an  apartment  not  un- 
worthy to  be  inhabited  by  themselves. 

While  I  was  indulging  in  the  luxury  which  those  gentle 
ministers  provided,  the  thought  of  the  unfortunate  Roman 


SALATHIEL.  359 

occurred  to  me.  I  slightly  mentioned  him,  and  every  voice 
was  raised  to  have  him  brought  in  from  the  hazards  of  the 
night.  Constantius,  feeble  as  he  was,  rose  from  his  couch 
to  assist  in  this  work  of  hospitality;  but  he  was  under  a 
fond  tyrant,  who  would  not  suffer  her  commands  to  be 
questioned.  Salome's  orders  were  obeyed;  and  to  the  old 
domestics  and  me  was  destined  the  undivided  honor. 

I  found  the  wounded  officer  lying  on  the  spot  where  I 
had  parted  with  him,  gazing  on  the  moon,  and  humming 
a  gay  air  of  Italy,  in  a  most  melancholy  tone.  He  had 
palpably  made  up  his  reckoning  with  this  world;  and 
calmly  waiting  until  some  Jewish  knife  should  put  an 
end  to  his  troubles,  he  determined  to  save  himself  from 
the  trouble  of  thinking,  and  die  like  a  man  who  had  noth- 
ing better  to  do.  But  the  struggle  was  against  nature; 
and  as  I  slowly  felt  my  way  along  the  obscure  passages,  I 
had  time  to  hear  the  song  flutter,  and  now  and  then  a  groan 
supersede  it  altogether.  My  step  now  caught  his  quick 
ear,  and  I  heard  in  return  the  ringing  of  a  sword  plucked 
sharply  from  the  scabbard. 

The  bold  Koman,  reckless  as  he  was  of  life,  was  evi- 
dently resolved  not  to  let  it  go  without  its  price;  and  it 
was  probably  fortunate  for  me,  or  my  old  and  tottering 
fellow  philanthropist,  that  the  ruinous  state  of  the  pas- 
sages compelled  us  to  take  time  in  our  advance. 

"Three  of  them,"  I  heard  him  utter,  as  we  gradually 
worked  our  way  towards  the  light;  "three,  and  perhaps 
twenty  at  their  backs."  He  tried  to  raise  himself  up,  lean- 
ing on  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  feebly  pointing  the 
falchion  to  keep  us  off.  "Thieves,"  said  he,  "let  us  un- 
derstand each  other.  If  you  must  cut  my  throat,  you 
must  fight  for  it;  and  after  all,  I  have  nothing  to  make 
it  worth  your  trouble.  By  Jove  and  Venus,"  and  he 
laughed  with  the  strange  jocularity  that  sometimes  be- 
sets the  bold  in  the  last  peril,  "the  cleverest  robber  in  Jeru- 
salem could  make  nothing  of  me."  I  stood  in  the  shadow, 
while  he  again  tried  his  expostulation.  "My  clothes  would 
not  sell  for  the  smallest  coin  in  your  sashes;  I  could  not 
furnish  out  a  scarecrow — yet  Jewish  patriots,  or  thieves, 
or  saints,  or  all  together,  I  will  tell  you  how  you  can  make 
money  of  me.  Take  me  to  the  Roman  camp,  and  I  an- 
swer for  your  fortune  on  the  spot."  I  laughed  in  my  turn. 


360  8  AL  AT  HI  EL. 

"By  all  that's  honest,  I  never  was  more  serious  in  my  life," 
said  he.  "Far  be  it  from  me  to  trifle  with  heroes  of  your 
profession ;  you  shall  have  my  helmet  full  of  gold  Ves- 
pasians." 

"Well,  then,"  said  I,  coming  forward,  "you  shall  live 
at  least  for  to-night;  but  there  is  one  condition  which  I 

cannot  give  up " 

*"0f  course,  that  I  give  you  two  helmets  full  instead  of 
one.     Agreed." 

"The  condition  from  which  nothing  can  make  me  re- 
cede is " 

"Three  times  the  money;  or  ten  times  the  money?" 

I  pondered.     The  old  domestics  stared  at  us  both. 

"Why,  you  extravagant  Jew,  have  you  no  conscience? 
Recollect  how  little  the  lives  of  half  the  generals  in  the 
service  are  worth  half  the  sum.  But  say  anything  short 
of  the  military  chest — out  with  the  condition  at  once." 

"That  you  come  instantly  with  me — to  supper." 

The  formidable  stipulation  was  gaily  acceded  to.  The 
old  domestics  and  I  supported  him  up  the  stairs,  whose 
condition,  as  he  afterwards  allowed,  led  him  still  to  nur- 
ture shrewd  doubts  of  Jewish  hospitality.  But  when  I 
opened  the  door  of  the  chamber,  and  he  saw  the  striking 
preparations  within,  he  uttered  a  cry  of  surprise ;  and 
turning,  bowed  with  Italian  grace,  in  tacit  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  wrong  that  he  had  done  me. 

As  I  led  him  forward,  and  the  light  fell  on  his  features, 
I  saw  Esther's  countenance  glow  with  crimson.  The  Ro- 
man pronounced  her  name,  and  flew  over  to  her.  Miriam 
— we  all,  in  the  same  moment,  recognized  the  stranger, 
and  every  lip  at  once  uttered  "Septimius !" 

A  few  campaigns  in  the  imperial  guard  had  changed  the 
handsome  Italian  boy,  the  friend  and  favorite  of  Con- 
stantius,  into  the  showy  officer,  the  friend  and  favorite  of 
everybody ;  with  the  elegance  of  the  court,  and  the  freedom 
of  the  camp,  he  had  inherited  from  nature  the  easy  light- 
ness and  animation  of  temper  that  neither  can  give. 
Nothing  could  be  more  amusing  than  the  restless  round 
of  anecdote  that  he  kept  up  through  the  night.  The  circle 
in  which  he  found  himself,  contrasted  with  the  wretched- 
ness of  the  few  hours  before,  let  his  recollections  flow 
with  wild  vivacity.  His  stories  of  the  imperial  tent  were 


SALATHIEL.  361 

new  to  us,  and  he  told  them  with  the  taste  of  a  man  of 
high  breeding,  and  the  sarcastic  finish  of  a  keen  observer 
of  the  absurdities  that  will  creep  in,  even  among  the 
mighty  and  the  wise  of  the  world. 

In  our  several  ways  he  delighted  us  all.  Constantius 
seemed  to  gain  new  health  in  laughing  at  the  histories  of 
his  military  friends.  Salome's  face  glistened  with  the 
vividness  so  long  chased  away  by  sorrow,  as  the  manners 
of  Rome  passed  before  her  in  the  liveliest  colors  of  pleas- 
antry. Esther  treasured  every  word,  with  an  emotion  that 
fluctuated  across  her  beauty  like  the  opening  and  shutting 
of  a  rose  under  the  evening  breeze.  I  was  interested  by 
the  pungent  sketches  of  public  character,  which  started 
up  in  the  midst  of  sportive  description.  Miriam  alone  was 
reluctant,  and  her  glance  frequently  rested  with  pain  on 
Esther's  hectic  cheek.  But  even  Miriam  at  times  gave 
way  to  the  voice  of  the  charmer;  her  fears  were  forgotten, 
and  she  joined  in  the  general  smile. 

When  the  females  retired,  we  held  a  short  consultation 
on  the  means  of  restoring  our  guest  to  his  friends.  In 
the  immediate  temper  of  the  city,  to  be  seen  was  certain 
death;  and  no  pacific  intercourse  with  the  besiegers  could 
be  expected  after  our  enormous  infraction  of  treaty.  Con- 
stantius urged  the  despatch  of  a  private  messenger  to  the 
camp,  with  the  proposal  of  a  plan  for  his  escape.  To  my 
surprise,  and  certainly  to  my  gratification,  Septimius  him- 
self flatly  negatived  the  measure. 

"It  has  too  much  hazard  for  my  taste,"  said  he,  sport- 
ively. "Your  messenger  will  probably  be  caught  by  the 
people,  and  as  probably  hanged;  or,  if  he  reach  the  camp, 
he  will  be  hanged  there  inevitably.  Jewish  credit,  I  re- 
gret to  say,  will  not  stand  high,  within  these  twelve  hours, 
with  my  countrymen.  If  the  fellow  die  here,  like  a  wom- 
an— with  a  story  in  his  mouth,  you  will  all  be  brought 
under  the  justice  of  your  sovereign  lord  the  mob.  If  my 
countrymen  inflict  the  axe,  you  are  not  the  safer,  for 
every  peasant  about  the  camp  is  a  spy,  and  the  news  will 
travel  here  in  the  next  half  hour ;  and,  after  all,  your  trou- 
ble will  be  thrown  away.  Titus  has  good  nature  enough, 
and  probably  would  not  wish  to  see  me  hoisted  on  the 
top  of  a  pike  on  your  gates;  but  he  is  a  furious  discipli- 
narian, swears  by  the  law  of  honor  and  arms,  and  is,  I  can 


362  SALATHIEL. 

well  believe,  chafing  like  a  roused  lion  against  every  one 
who  has  had  a  share  in  this  day's  business.  I  myself  should 
have  a  chance  of  hanging,  for  an  example,  if  I  returned 
before  his  imperial  displeasure  had  time  to  cool.  So  1 
must  trespass  on  your  hospitality  for  a  day  or  two." 

"But  what  is  to  be  finally  done?"  said  I.  "The  armis- 
tice can  never  be  tried  again." 

"Why  not?  Do  you  think  that  the  loss  of  a  few  troop- 
ers can  make  any  difference?  Out  of  twenty  thousand 
cavalry  we  can  easily  spare  a  hundred.  Those  things  have 
happened  once  a  week  since  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign. They  agree  with  our  notions  admirably.  The 
survivors  get  promotion;  and  whatever  libation  they  may 
offer  for  their  good  luck,  it  is  certainly  not  tears.  A  stu- 
pid officer,  and  on  this  occasion  I  fairly  reckon  myself 
among  the  number,  is  taken  off  the  muster-roll,  before  he 
might  have  the  opportunity  of  doing  mischief,  by  some 
blunder  on  a  larger  scale.  Experience  is  gained;  we  are 
entrapped  no  more,  at  least  in  the  same  way;  and  a  group 
of  Unfortunates,  who  have  spent  half  their  lives  in  being 
browbeat  by  their  superiors,  suddenly  start  into  rank,  be- 
'come  superiors  themselves,  and  learn  to  browbeat  in  their 
turn.  You  will  have  the  armistice  again  in  a  week." 

This  confession  of  soldiership  repelled  me  a  little;  but 
its  air  of  frankness,  and  disregard  of  chance  and  care, 
carried  it  off  showily.  I  too  was  but  a  peasant-soldier, 
with  my  heart  in  everything.  The  man  before  me  was  a 
son  of  the  camp,  the  professional  warrior,  whose  business 
it  was  to  stifle  all  feelings  but  those  of  the  camp.  Yet, 
heroism  and  hard-heartedness ! — I  could  not  join  them. 
I  had  still  something  to  learn ;  and  the  gay  philosopher  of 
the  sword  lost  ground  with  me. 

I  was  retiring  for  the  night,  when  I  felt  the  soft  hand 
of  Miriam  on  my  shoulder.  "I  have  been  anxious,"  she 
said,  "to  ask  your  opinion  about  this  Roman."  Her  fine 
countenance,  which  reflected  every  emotion  of  her  spirit 
like  a  mirror,  showed  that  the  subject  was  one  of  deep 
interest.  "Is  misfortune  always  to  pursue  us,  Salathiel?" 
"In  what  new  shape  now?"  said  I.  "We  have  spent  some 
hours,  as  amusing  as  I  ever  remember.  What  can  have 
occurred  since  this  morning,  when  your  philosophy  made  so 
light  of  our  actual  evils  ?"  "For  external  evils  I  have  but 


SALATHIEL.  363 

little  feeling,"  was  her  answer;  "but  I  see  in  the  chance 
that  brought  the  Eoman  here  to-night  something  of  the 
fate  which  you  have  so  often  thought  to  follow  your  house. 
I  tremble  for  Esther's  peace  of  mind.  What  if  she  should 
be  attracted  by  this  idolater?" 

"Esther!  my  darling  Esther!  love  an  alien?  a  Roman, 
an  idolater  ?  What  an  abyss  you  open  before  me !"  I 
exclaimed,  with  a  sudden  sense  of  evil.  There  was  a  pause ; 
my  wife  again  spoke. 

"While  Septimius  remained  among  us,  in  the  mountains, 
I  saw  with  terror  that  Esther's  beauty  attracted  him.  His 
Italian  elegance  was  even  then  a  dangerous  charm  for  a 
mind  so  inexperienced  and  so  sensitive  as  hers.  I  knew 
the  impossibility  of  their  union,  and  rejoiced  when  his 
recovery  allowed  of  his  leaving  the  palace.  But,  for  a 
long  period  after,  Esther  was  evidently  unhappy;  her 
cheerfulness  gave  way ;  she  became  fonder  of  solitude ;  and 
I  believe  that  nothing  but  extreme  care,  and  the  change 
of  scene  which  followed,  preserved  her  from  the  grave." 

"Miriam !  I  have  no  comfort  to  offer.  I  am  a  stricken 
man;  misfortune  must  be  my  portion.  But  if  anything 
were  to  bereave  me  of  that  girl,  I  feel  that  my  heart  would 
break.  We  must  delay  no  longer.  By  the  first  light  the 
Roman  shall  quit  this  house — this  city.  He  shall  not  stay 
another  hour  to  poison  the  peace  of  my  family;  the  only 
peace  that  I  now  can  possess  in  this  world." 

"Yet,  rashness  must  not  disgrace  what  is  true  wisdom, 
my  Salathiel.  The  Roman  is  here  protected  by  the  laws 
of  courtesy.  You  cannot  send  him  forth  without  giving 
him  over  to  the  horrid  temper  of  the  populace.  A  few 
days  may  make  that  escape  easy  which  would  now  be  im- 
possible. Besides,  I  may  have  done  him  injustice,  and 
mistaken  the  common  pleasure  of  seeing  unexpected  friends 
for  the  attempt  to  mislead  the  affections  of  our  innocent 
and  ardent  child." 

"No !  By  the  first  light  he  leaves  this  roof.  The  truth 
glares  on  me.  I  might  have  seen  it  in  his  looks.  His  lan- 
guage, however  general,  was  perpetually  directed  to  Esther 
by  some  personal  allusion.  His  voice  lost  its  ease  when 
he  answered  a  syllable  of  hers.  After  she  spoke,  he  af- 
fected abstraction — an  old  artifice.  His  manner  is  too 
well  calculated  to  disturb  the  mind  of  woman — and  most 


364  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

of  all,  of  woman  cursed  with  feeling  and  genius.  Esther 
has  already  imagined  this  showy  stranger  into  a  wonder ! 
I  must  break  the  spell.  What  is  to  become  of  her? — of 
me  ?  man  of  misery !  By  the  first  dawn  the  Roman  takes 
his  departure." 

In  the  bitterness  of  soul  I  turned  from  the  chamber, 
where  the  lamps  still  burning,  and  the  glittering  table, 
looked  too  bright  for  the  gloomy  spirit  of  the  hour.  The 
cool  air  that  breathed  through  a  casement  led  me  towards 
it;  and,  disinclined  to  speak,  and  holding  Miriam's  gentle 
hand,  I  listened  to  the  confused  murmurs  of  the  city  far 
below.  I  suddenly  felt  the  hand  in  mine  tremble  con- 
vulsively. Miriam's  face  was  pale  with  fear;  she  stood 
with  lips  apart  and  breathless,  brows  raised,  eyes  straining 
upwards.  In  utter  alarm  I  asked  the  cause.  She  lifted 
the  hand,  which  had  fallen  by  her  side,  and  slowly,  like 
the  staff  of  the  soothsayer,  pointed  it  to  the  heavens.  The 
cause  was  there.  The  ominous  sword  had  for  the  first 
time  met  her  eye.  The  blaze,  which  even  in  noonday  was 
fearfully  visible,  in  midnight  was  tremendous.  A  blade 
of  the  deepest  hue  of  gore  stretched  to  the  horizon,  pour- 
ing from  its  edge  perpetual  showers  of  crimson  flame,  that 
looked  like  showers  of  fresh  blood.  Boundless  slaughter 
was  in  the  emblem.  Beyond  it  the  circle  of  the  sky  was 
wan;  the  stars  sickened;  and  the  moon,  though  at  the 
full,  hung  like  an  orb  of  lead.  The  mighty  falchion,  the 
pledge  of  an  inevitable  judgment,  extinguished  all  the 
beneficent  splendors  of  heaven. 

"There,  there  is  the  Sign  that  I  have  seen  for  months 
in  my  dreams,"  said  Miriam  in  an  awed  voice;  "that  has 
haunted  me  when  I  laid  my  head  upon  the  pillow;  that 
has  been  before  my  mind,  in  the  day,  wherever  I  moved ; 
that  I  have  seen  coloring  every  object,  ever/  moment  of 
my  life  since  I  entered  these  fated  walls.  I  have  strug- 
gled to  drive  away  the  horrid  image;  I  have  wept  and 
prayed.  But  it  was  where  nothing  could  unfix  it.  It  was 
pictured  on  my  soul;  and  with  it  came  other  images, 
fearful,  though  they  brought  me  no  terrors;  melancholy 
sights  to  those  who  have  no  hope  but  here,  yet  glorious  to 
the  servants  of  the  truth,  Salathiel.  I  have  had  warn- 
ings. I  must  never  leave  the  city  of  David."  She  knelt 
in  the  deep  prayer  of  the  soul. 


SALATBIEL.  365 

Her  words  came  on  me  with  the  power  of  prophecy. 
"King  and  protector  of  Israel  I"  I  exclaimed,  "is  this  to 
be  the  suffering  of  thy  people?  On  me  let  thy  wrath  be 
done;  but  spare  her  who  now  kneels  before  thee.  Are  the 
pure  to  be  given  into  the  hands  of  the  merciless,  and 
thy  children  to  be  trampled  as  the  ashes  of  the  unholy  ?" 

My  impatient  voice  caught  Miriam's  ear,  and  she  rose 
with  a  countenance  beaming  piety  and  love. 

"Salathiel,  we  must  not  murmur.  Even  that  sight  of 
awe,  that  terrible  emblem,  has  taught  me  the  selfishness 
of  my  anxieties.  What  are  our  personal  sorrows  to  the 
weight  of  affliction  figured  in  that  instrument  of  supreme 
justice?  The  woe  of  millions,  the  blood  of  a  nation,  the 
ruin  of  the  glorious  Law,  built  by  the  hands  of  the  Eternal, 
for  the  good  of  mankind,  are  written  in  words  of  flame 
before  our  eyes;  and  can  I  complain  of  the  perils  which 
may  fall  to  my  share?  Henceforth,  my  husband  and  my 
love," — and  she  threw  herself  into  my  willing  arms,  "you 
shall  never  be  disturbed  with  my  sorrows;  exercise  your 
own  powerful  understanding,  guard  against  evil  by  your 
talents  and  knowledge  of  life,  as  far  as  it  can  be  guarded 
against  by  man ;  and  beyond  that  cease  to  repine  or  fear.  In 
my  supplication  I  have  committed  our  darling  child  into 
the  hands  of  Him  who  sitteth  on  the  circle  of  eternity !" 

Quivering  with  every  finer  feeling  of  the  heart,  maternal 
love,  matron  faith,  and  grateful  adoration,  she  hung  upon 
my  neck;  until,  as  if  a  portion  of  her  noble  spirit  had 
passed  into  mine,  I  felt  a  confidence,  and  a  consolation, 
like  her  own. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

I  WAS  spared  the  ungraciousness  of  urging  the  young 
soldier's  departure ;  for  when  I  met  him  on  the  next  morn- 
ing his  first  topic  was  escape.  He  had  been  since  daybreak 
examining  from  my  turrets  the  accessible  passages  of  the 
fortifications,  and  had  even,  by  the  help  of  a  peasant, 
despatched  a  letter  to  his  friends,  requesting  either  a  for- 
mal demand  of  his  person  from  the  Jews,  or  some  private 
effort  to  extricate  him. 

But  this  glow  of  society  was  transient.     In  the  fall  of 


366 

his  charger,  he  had  been  violently  bruised.  He  now  com- 
plained of  inward  suffering,  and  his  pallid  face  and  feeble 
words  gave  painful  proof  that  he  had  much  still  to  under- 
go- 

Three  days  passed  thus  drearily.  At  home  I  was  sur- 
rounded by  sickness,  or  vexed  by  suspicion — the  worse 
sickness  of  the  mind.  Septimius  lay  in  his  chamber,  strug- 
gling to  laugh,  talk  and  read  away  the  heavy  hours;  and 
finally,  like  all  such  stragglers,  giving  up  the  task  in  de- 
spair. His  thoughts  were  in  the  Roman  camp.  He  pro- 
fessed gratitude  of  the  deepest  nature,  for  the  service  that 
I  had  done  him  now  for  the  second  time,  "if  saving  so  un- 
important a  life  was  a  service  either  to  him,  or  any  one 
else.  Yet,  he  almost  wished  that  he  had  been  left  where 
he  was  found." 

His  voice  then  would  sink,  and  he  was  evidently  think- 
ing of  subjects  near  to  his  heart. 

Then  his  soldiership  would  come  again.  "A  man  could 
not  finish  his  course  better  than  among  his  gallant  com- 
rades; and  with  all  his  anxiety  to  return,  he  felt  no  trivial 
concern  as  to  the  view  which  Titus  might  take  of  the 
whole  unfortunate  affair.  Of  justice  he  was  secure;  but, 
to  be  questioned  for  his  military  conduct,  was  in  itself  a 
degradation.  In  short,"  said  he,  "on  my  sleepless  couch 
I  have  turned  true  penitent  for  the  foolish  curiosity  which 
prompted  me  to  solicit  the  command  of  an  escort,  which 
would  have  been,  by  right,  put  under  the  care  of  some 
mere  tribune." 

I  tried  to  cheer  him,  by  saying  that  his  had  been  only  the 
natural  desire  of  an  active  mind,  to  see  so  singular  a  scene 
as  our  city  offered;  or  the  honorable  wish  of  a  soldier  to 
be  foremost  wherever  there  was  anything  to  be  done. 

"It  was  more  than  either,"  said  he;  "there  was  actual 
illusion  in  the  case.  I  now  feel  that  I  was  practiced  upon. 
You  know  the  strange  concourse  of  all  kinds  of  people  that 
follow  a  camp  for  all  kinds  of  purposes — plunderers,  trad- 
ers, and  jugglers,  crowding  on  our  movements  as  regularly 
as  the  vultures,  and  with  nearly  the  same  objects.  For  a 
week  past,  I  had  found  myself  beset  by  an  old  gibbering 
slave,  of  this  class.  Wherever  I  rode,  the  fellow  was  before 
my  eyes ;  he  contrived  to  mingle  with  my  servants,  and  be- 
came a  sort  of  favorite,  by  selling  them  counterfeit  rings 


SALATiiltiL  367 

and  gems,  at  ten  times  their  value.  The  wretch  was  clever, 
too;  and  as  my  tent-hours  began  to  be  disturbed  by  the 
unusual  gaiety  of  the  listeners  to  his  lies,  I  ordered  him  to 
be  flogged  out  of  the  lines.  But  twelve  hours  had  not 
passed  before  I  found  him  gambolling  again;  and  was 
about  to  order  the  instant  infliction  of  the  discipline,  when 
he  threw  himself  on  the  ground,  and  implored  'a  moment 
of  my  secret  ear/  Conceive  who  the  fellow  was?" 

"The  impostor,  who  harangued  in  the  square !" 

"The  very  man.  He  told  me  that  there  were  certain 
contrivances  on  foot  to  bring  me  into  disfavor  with  the 
general;  which  I  knew  to  be  the  fact.  He  gave  me  the 
names  of  the  parties,  which  I  felt  to  be  sufficiently  prob- 
able; and  finished  by  saying,  that  having  so  long  eaten  of 
my  bread  (a  week),  and  enjoyed  my  liberality  (the 
scourge),  he  longed  to  show  his  gratitude  by  giving  me  an 
opportunity  of  putting  my  enemies  to  silence  on  the  spot. 
This  opportunity  was,  to  solicit  the  command  of  the  escort 
required  for  the  mission.  How  he  gained  his  wisdom  I 
know  not;  but  I  took  the  advice,  went  at  once  to  Titus, 
found  that  an  armistice  was  being  debated  in  council,  that 
there  was  some  difficulty  in  the  choice  of  an  officer  for  the 
service  (by  no  means  likely  to  be  a  sinecure,  in  point  of 
either  judgment  or  hazard),  stepped  forward,  and,  to  the 
surprise  of  everybody,  disclaimed  the  privileges  of  my  rank, 
and  insisted  on  marching  at  the  head  of  this  handful,  this 
outpost-guard,  into  the  formidable  city  of  Jerusalem." 

"His  object,  of  course,"  said  I,  "was  your  destruction. 
I  now  see  the  cause  of  the  harangue  that  roused  the  people ; 
he  was  in  the  pay  of  the  conspirators  against  you.  Yet,  his 
appearance  was  striking;  there  was  a  vigor  about  his  look 
iind  language,  a  fierce  consciousness  of  power  somewhere, 
that  distinguished  him  from  his  race.  He  came  too,  and 
has  disappeared,  without  my  being  able  to  discover  whence 
or  whither." 

"Oh,  the  commonest  contrivance  of  his  trade,"  was  the 
reply.  "Those  fellows  always  come  and  go  in  a  cloud,  if 
they  can.  He  was  probably  beside  you  half  the  day,  before 
and  after.  You  saw  how  little  he  thought  of  the  lance,  that 
I  sent  to  bring  out  his  hidden  secrets.  He  doubtless  wore 
armor;  otherwise,  there  would  have  been  one  juggler  the 
less  in  the  world.  The  truth  is,  I  have  been  duped,  but  I 


368  SALATHIEL. 

have  made  up  my  mind  to  think  nothing  about  the  dupery. 
The  slave  is  certainly  clever,  perhaps  to  an  extraordinary 
degree — a  villain,  undoubtedly,  and  of  the  first  magnitude. 
But  he  has  the  secret  of  the  cabal  against  me:  and  that 
secret  makes  him  at  once  fit  to  be  employed,  and  dangerous 
to  be  provoked.  The  blow  of  the  lance  yesterday  showed 
him  that  I  am  not  always  to  be  trifled  with.  In  fact,  prince, 
you  might  find  it  advantageous  to  employ  him  occasionally 
yourself.  It  was  he  who  conveyed  my  letter  to  the  camp 
this  morning  I" 

My  look  probably  expressed  my  dislike  to  this  species 
of  envoy. 

"You  may  rely  on  my  honor,"  said  the  Roman,  "not  to 
involve  you  in  any  of  the  fellow's  inventions.  Slippery  as 
he  is,  I  have  a  hold  on  him  too,  that  he  will  not  venture  to 
shake  off.  And  now,  to  let  you  into  full  confidence,  I 
expect  him  back  this  very  night,  when  he  will  relieve  your 
city  of  an  inhabitant  unworthy  of  remaining  among  so 
polished  a  people ;  and  your  house,  my  prince,  of  an  inmate 
than  whom  none  on  earth  can  be  more  grateful  for  your 
hospitality." 

He  concluded  this  mixture  of  levity,  address,  and  frank- 
ness, with  a  smile;  and  in  a  tone  of  elegance,  that  com- 
pelled me  to  take  it  all  on  the  more  favorable  side.  But 
against  suffering  the  step  of  his  strange  emissary  to  pollute 
the  threshold  in  which  I  lived:  I  expressed  my  plain  deter- 
mination. 

"For  that  too  I  have  provided,"  said  he.  "My  inter- 
course with  the  reprobate  is  to  take  place  at  another  quarter 
of  the  city,  as  far  as  possible,"  and  he  laughed,  "for  rea- 
sons equally  of  mine  and  yours,  from  this  dwelling.  I  have 
managed  matters,  so  as  not  to  compromise  any  of  my 
friends;  and,  to  make  my  arrangements  on  that  point  still 
more  secure,  may  I  express  a  wish  that  neither  Constantius 
nor  any  other  person  of  your  house  may  be  acquainted  with 
my  intention  of  leaving  them,  and,  I  may  sincerely  say, 
leaving  everything  that  could  gratify  my  best  feelings — 
this  very  evening." 

This  was  an  easy  and  graceful  avoidance  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  his  longer  residence  threatened.  I  gave  him 
the  promise  of  secrecy,  cautioning  him  against  reposing 
any  dangerous  confidence  in  his  emissary,  of  whom  I  had 


BALA'i'tilEL.  309 

an  irrepressible  abhorrence;  and  was  about  to  leave  the 
chamber,  when  he  caught  my  hand,  and  said  in  unusual 
emotion : 

"Prince  of  Naphtali,  I  have  but  one  word  more  to  say. 
You  are  a  man  of  the  world,  and  can  make  allowance  for 
the  giddiness  of  human  passions.  Some  of  them  are  un- 
controllable, or  at  least,  which  I  have  never  learned  to 
control,  and  in  me  perhaps  they  belong  to  inferiority  of 
mind.  But  if,  on  my  departure,  you  should  hear  calumnies 
against  me " 

"Impossible,  my  young  friend ;  or,  if  I  should,  you  may 
rely  on  my  giving  the  calumniators  a  very  brief  answer." 

"Or,  if  even  yourself  should  be  disposed  to  think  severely 
of  me,  you  know  the  circumstances  under  which  a  man  of 
birth  and  fortune  must  be  placed  in  our  profession." 

"Fully;  and  am  much  more  disposed  to  regret,  than  to 
wonder  at  the  consequences." 

"If  you  should  hear  that  I  had  been  assailed  in  an  evil 
hour,  by  an  unexpected  temptation,  which  I  had  long 
labored  to  resist;  assailed  by  it  under  the  most  powerful 
circumstances  that  ever  yet  tasked  the  human  mind;  cir- 
cumstances to  which,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
wisdom  has  been  proverbially  folly,  and  resolution  weak- 
ness; if  it  should  have  mastered  my  whole  being,  soul  and 
body;  if  I  were  willing  to  give  up  the  brightest  prospects 
for  its  possession — to  hazard  life,  hope,  honors " 

The  thought  of  Esther  smote  me.  I  started  from  him, 
where  he  stood;  with  his  fine  head  drooping  like  the  An- 
tinous,  and  his  figure  the  very  emblem  of  passionate  de- 
jection. "Roman,  you  are  here  as  my  guest;  and  as  such 
I  have  listened  to  you  with  patience  until  now.  But  if 
any  member  of  my  family  is  concerned  in  what  you  say,  I 
demand,  in  the  most  distinct  terms,  that  the  subject  shall 
be  mentioned  no  more.  The  daughters  of  Israel  are  sacred. 
Never  shall  a  child  of  mine  wed  with  those  who  now  lord 
it  over  my  country." 

He  spread  his  hands  and  eyes  in  the  broadest  astonish- 
ment. "Prince,  can  it  be  possible  that  you  have  so  totally 
mistaken  me  ?  My  perplexities  are  of  an  entirely  different 
nature.  The  chain  with  which  I  am  bound  is  not  of  roses, 
but  of  iron ;  a  chain  of  invisible,  yet  stern  influences,  that 
haunt  my  night,  and  even  my  day."  His  voice  faltered, 


370  BALATHIEL. 

and  he  turned  away  with  a  shudder,  as  from  a  visionary 
tormentor. 

"What !  has  that  man  of  desperate  arts,  if  he  be  man, 
involved  you  too  in  his  net?  Dares  the  impostor  soar  so 
high !" 

He  clasped  his  hands.  "You  saw  how  he  defied,  how 
he  mocked  me,  how  he  spurned  me,  when  my  abhorrence 
rose  to  the  madness  of  attempting  to  strike  him.  I  might 
as  well  have  flung  the  weapon  at  the  clouds.  You  saw  the 
instinctive  terror  of  my  charger.  That  animal  was  cele- 
brated in  our  whole  cavalry  for  its  bold,  nay,  fierce  cour- 
age. Yet,  before  the  eye  of  that  man  of  power  and  evil, 
it  cowered  like  a  hare,  and  died  of  his  glance.  By  him  the 
temptation  has  been  offered ;  of  its  nature  I  dare  not  speak ; 
but  it  is  dazzling,  fearful,  and  must — I  feel  it — finally  be 
fatal/' 

"Then  cast  it  from  you  at  once.    Be  a  man — a  hero." 

"It  is  hopeless — I  must  be  the  victim;  I  am  bound 
irretrievably.  Farewell,  prince;  we  shall  see  each  other 
no  more." 

He  flung  himself  upon  the  couch.  I  offered  him  assist- 
ance, advice,  consolation,  in  vain.  The  spirit  of  the  soldier 
was  extinguished.  The  victim  of  fantastic  illusion  lay 
before  me.  I  left  him  to  the  care  of  the  old  domestics; 
and  when  I  closed  the  door,  thought  that  I  had  closed  the 
door  of  the  grave. 


CHAPTER  LV. 

DURING  this  period  the  city  presented  the  turbulent 
aspect  that  must  result  from  the  concourse  of  vast  warlike 
multitudes,  known  only  by  hereditary  bickerings.  The 
clansman  of  Judah  looked  down  upon  every  human  being, 
and  his  countrymen  among  the  rest.  The  Benjamite  re- 
torted it,  boasted  of  the  inheritance  of  David,  and  looked 
down  upon  the  men  of  the  Galilees  as  rioters  and  plunder- 
ers. These,  too,  had  their  objects  of  scorn;  and  the  rem- 
nants of  Dan  and  Ephraim  were  held  in  merciless  disdain, 
as  the  descendants  of  rebels  and  idolaters.  To  deepen  those 
ancient  feuds,  were  thrown  in  the  mutual  injuries  of  the 
factions  of  John  and  Simon.  Their  leaders  were  now  but 


SALATHlBL.  371 

the  shadow  of  what  they  had  been;  yet  the  memory  of 
their  mischiefs  survived,  with  a  keenness  aggravated  by 
the  public  discovery  of  the  insignificance  of  the  instru- 
ments. 

Genius  in  the  tyrant  offers  the  consolation,  that  if  the 
chain  have  galled  us,  it  has  been  bound  by  a  hand  made  for 
supremacy.  But  the  last  misery  of  the  slave  is,  to  have 
been  bound  by  a  creature  even  more  contemptible  than 
himself;  to  have  given  to  folly  the  homage  due  to  talent; 
to  have  stooped  before  the  base,  and  trembled  under  the 
feeble. 

The  obvious  alarm  of  the  enemy,  who  had  now  totally 
withdrawn  from  the  plain,  and  were  occupied  with  raising 
rampart  on  rampart  round  their  several  camps;  the  tri- 
umph over  the  unfortunate  troop ;  and  the  excitement  of  a 
crowd  of  pretended  prophets  and  frantic  visionaries,  filled 
the  populace  with  every  vanity  of  conquest.  The  constant 
exclamation  in  the  streets  was,  "Let  us  march  to  storm  the 
camps,  and  drive  the  idolater  into  the  sea !"  But  the  new 
luxuries  of  the  city  were  too  congenial  not  to  act  as  for- 
midable rivals  to  the  popular  ambition.  No  leader  ap- 
peared; the  boastings  passed  away;  and  the  boiling  tem- 
perament of  the  warrior  had  time  to  run  into  the  safer 
channel  of  words  and  wine. 

Still,  one  melancholy  remembrancer  was  there.  Through 
the  wildest  festivity,  through  the  groups  of  drinking,  danc- 
ing, bravadoing,  and  quarrelling,  Sabat,  the  Ishmaelite, 
moved,  day  after  day,  from  dawn  till  evening,  pouring  out 
his  sentences  of  condemnation.  Nothing  could  be  more 
singular,  or  more  awful,  than  his  figure,  as  the  denouncer 
of  ruin  hurried  along,  like  a  being  denuded  of  all  objects 
in  life  but  the  one.  The  multitude,  in  their  most  extrava- 
gant excesses,  felt  undissembled  fear  before  him.  I  have 
seen  the  most  ferocious  tumult  stilled  by  the  sound  of  his 
portentous  voice ;  the  dagger  instantly  sheathed ;  the  head 
buried  in  the  garment;  the  form  often  prostrate,  until  he 
passed  by.  Where  he  went,  the  song  of  license  was  dumb ; 
the  dance  ceased ;  the  cup  fell  from  the  hand ;  and  many 
a  lip  of  violence  and  blasphemy  quivered  with  long-for- 
gotten prayer. 

How  he  sustained  life  none  could  tell.  He  was  reduced 
to  the  thinnest  anatomy;  his  eye  had  the  yellow  glare  of 


SALATBIEL. 

blindness ;  his  once  raven  hair  was  of  the  whiteness  of  flax 
— he  was  an  animated  corpse.  But  he  strode  onward  with 
a  force  which,  if  few  attempted  to  resist,  none  seemed  able 
to  withstand;  his  gestures  were  rapid  and  nervous  in  an 
extraordinary  degree,  and  his  voice  was  overwhelming.  It 
had  the  rush  and  volume  of  a  powerful  blast.  Even  in 
the  clamor  of  the  day,  through  the  innumerable  voices  of 
the  streets,  it  was  audible  from  the  remotest  quarters  of 
the  city.  I  heard  it  through  the  tread  and  shouts  of  fifty 
thousand  marching  men.  But,  in  twilight  and  silence,  the 
eternal,  "Woe ! — woe ! — woe !"  howled  along  the  air,  with 
a  sound  that  told  of  nothing  human. 

His  unfortunate  bride  still  followed  him ;  never  uttering 
a  word,  never  looking,  but  on  him.  She  glided  along  with 
him  in  his  swiftest  course,  as  bound  by  a  spell  to  wander 
where  he  wandered,  an  unconscious  slave ;  her  form  almost 
a  shadow ;  without  a  sound,  a  gesture,  or  a  glance ;  her  feet 
alone  moved. 

I  often  attempted  to  render  this  undone  pair  some  as- 
sistance. Sabat  recognized  me,  and  returned  brief  thanks ; 
and  perhaps  I  was  the  only  man  in  Jerusalem  to  whom  he 
vouchsafed  either  thanks  or  memory.  But  he  uniformly 
refused  aid  of  every  kind,  and,  reproaching  himself  for 
the  moment  given  to  human  recollections,  burst  away,  and 
again  began  his  denunciation  of  ''Woe — woe ! — woe  !" 

The  hope  of  treaty  with  the  besiegers  was  now  nearly 
desperate;  yet  I  felt  so  deeply  the  ruin  that  must  follow 
protracted  war,  that  I  had  labored  with  incessant  anxiety 
to  bring  the  people  to  a  sense  of  their  situation.  My  name 
was  high;  my  decided  refusal  of  all  command  gave  me  an 
influence  which  threw  more  grasping  ambition  into  the 
shade;  and  the  leading  men  of  Jerusalem  were  glad  to 
delegate  their  power  to  me,  with  the  double  object  of 
relieving  themselves  from  an  effort  to  which  they  were 
unequal,  and  from  a  responsibility,  under  which  even  their 
covetousness  had  begun  to  tremble. 

But  Jerusalem  was  not  to  be  saved ;  there  was  an  op- 
posing fatality — an  irresistible,  intangible  power,  arrayed 
against  all  efforts.  I  felt  it  at  my  first  step.  If  I  had 
been  treading  on  a  volcano,  and  heard  it  roar  under  me,  I 
could  not  have  been  made  more  sensible  of  the  hollownop?, 
and  hopelessness,  of  everv  effort  to  save  the  nation.  In  the 


SALATHIEL.  373 

midst  of  our  most  according  council,  some  luckless  impedi- 
ment was  sure  to  start  up.  While  we  seemed  on  the  verge 
of  conciliating  and  securing  the  most  important  interests, 
to  that  verge  we  were  suddenly  forbidden  all  approach. 
Communications,  actually  commenced  with  the  Eoman  gen- 
eral, and  which  promised  the  most  certain  results,  were 
hroken  off,  none  could  tell  how.  There  was  an  antagonist 
somewhere,  but  beyond  our  grasp;  a  hostility  as  powerful, 
as  constant,  and  as  little  capable  of  being  counteracted,  as 
the  hostility  of  the  plague. 

After  my  final  conversation  with  Septimius,  I  had  spent 
the  day  in  one  of  those  perplexing  deliberations,  and  was 
returning  with  a  weary  heart,  when,  in  an  obscure  street 
leading  into  the  Upper  City,  I  was  roused  from  my  reverie 
by  the  sound  of  one  of  our  mountain  songs.  Music  has 
ibeen  among  my  chief  solaces  through  existence,  and  the 
song  of  Naphtali,  in  that  moment  of  depression,  keenly 
moved  me.  I  stopped  to  listen  in  front  of  the  minstrel's 
tent,  in  which  a  circle  of  soldiers  and  shepherds  from  the 
Galilees  were  sitting  over  their  cups.  His  skill  deserved 
a  higher  audience.  He  touched  his  little  harp  with  elegance 
to  a  voice  that  reminded  me  of  the  sportiveness  and  wild 
melody  of  a  bird  in  spring.  The  moonlight  shone  through 
the  tent:  and,  as  the  boy  sat  under  its  large  white  folds 
in  the  fantastic  dress  of  his  art — a  loose  vermilion  robe, 
helted  with  sparkling  stones,  and  turban  of  yellow  silk,  that 
drooped  upon  his  shoulder  like  a  golden  pinion,  he  resem- 
hled  the  Persian  pictures  of  the  Peri  embosomed  in  the 
bell  of  the  lily.  The  rude  and  dark-featured  listeners 
round  him  might  well  have  sat  for  the  swart  demons  sub- 
missive to  his  will.  • 

But  thoughts  soon  returned  that  were  not  to  be  soothed 
hy  music ;  and,  throwing  some  pieces  of  money  to  the  boy, 
I  hastened  on.  The  departure  of  the  young  Roman,  and 
the  influence  that  it  might  have  on  my  family,  and  pecu- 
liarly on  the  mind  of  a  creature  doubly  endeared  to  me  by  a 
strange  and  melancholy  similitude  to  the  temper  of  my 
own  excitable  mind,  deeply  occupied  me;  and  it  was  even 
with  some  presentiment  of  evil  that  I  reached  home. 

The  first  sound  that  I  heard  was  the  lamentation  of  the 
old  domestics.  But  I  could  not  wait  to  solve  their  unin- 
telligible attempts  to  explain  the  disaster.  I  flew  to  my 


374  8ALATHIEL. 

family.  Miriam  was  absorbed  in  profound  sorrow ;  Salome 
was  in  loud  affliction.  Dreading  everything  that  could  be 
told  me,  yet  with  that  sullen  hardihood  which  long  mis- 
fortune gives,  I  took  my  wife's  hands,  and,  in  a  voice  strug- 
gling for  composure,  desired  her  to  tell  me  the  worst  at 
once. 

"Esther  is  gone !"  was  her  answer.  She  could  articulate 
no  more;  the  effort  to  speak  this  shook  her  whole  frame. 
But  Salome  broke  out  into  loud  reprobation  of  the  base- 
ness of  the  wretch  who  had  turned  our  hospitality  into  a 
snare;  and  whose  life,  twice  saved,  was  employed  only  to 
bring  misery  on  his  preserver. 

The  blow  fell  upon  me  with  the  keenness  of  a  sword. 
"Was  Esther,  was  my  daughter,  my  innocent,  darling 
Esther,  consenting  to  this  flight?" 

"I  know  not,"  said  Miriam.  "I  dare  not  ask  myself  the 
question.  If  she  can  have  forgotten  her  duty,  to  follow  the 
stranger;  if  she  can  have  left  her  parents; — no;  it  must 
have  been  through  some  horrid  artifice.  But  the  thought 
is  too  bitter.  Eaise  no  more  such  thoughts  in  my  mind." 

She  sank  in  silence.  But  Salome  was  not  to  be  re- 
strained. She  asserted  the  total  impossibility  of  Esther's 
having  thrown  off  her  allegiance  to  religion  and  filial  duty. 
"She  must  have  been  either,"  said  this  generous  and  en- 
thusiastic being,  "subjected  to  those  dreadful  arts  in  which 
the  idolaters  deal,  or  carried  away  by  force.  Constantius 
has  gone  already  in  search  of  her ;  feeble  as  he  is,  he  deter- 
mined to  discover  the  robber;  and  though  his  steps  were 
weak,  and  the  effort  may  hazard  his  life,  he  would  not  be 
restrained,  nor  would  I  restrain  him  where  I  should  have 
so  mucji  rejoiced  to  hazard  my  own." 

I  rose  to  depart.  Miriam  clung  to  me.  "Must  I  lose 
all,  Salathiel?" 

"I  am  the  guilty  one,  wife!  I  should  have  guarded 
against  this.  I  alone  am  to  blame.  I  will  recover  Esther. 
Without  her  we  all  should  be  miserable.  The  Koman 
general  is  just.  I  will  demand  her  of  Septimius  in  his 
presence.  Miriam  !  you  shall  see  your  child.  Salome !  you 
shall  see  your  sister.  And  now,  come  to  my  heart — come 
both ;  my  last  hope  of  happiness,  the  remnant  of  all  that 
once  promised  to  fill  my  declining  days  with  peace  and 
prosperity.  Weep  no  more,  Miriam!  Salome!  I  must  not 


SALATHIEL.  375 

be  unmanned  at  this  time  of  trial.  Go  to  your  chambers, 
and  pray  for  me — Farewell  \" 

It  was  nearly  midnight,  and  the  city  sounds  were  hushed, 
except  where  the  crowds,  which  still  poured  in,  struggled 
for  their  quarters.  The  very  fear  of  being  thus  disturbed 
kept  up  the  disturbance  of  the  population;  and  in  the 
leading  avenues  the  tents  showed  fierce  watchers  against 
this  violence  sitting  round  their  tables,  until  wine  either 
sent  them  to  sleep,  or  roused  them  into  daggers-drawing. 
Subordination  was  now  at  an  end ;  plunder  and  blood  were 
to  be  dreaded  by  every  man  who  ventured  among  those 
champions  of  freedom  and  prosperity ;  and  more  than  once 
this  night  I  was  compelled  to  show  that  I  wore  a  weapon. 

Yet  the  disorder  which  left  the  city  a  seat  of  dissolute 
riot  was  not  suffered  to  interfere  with  its  actual  defence. 
That  singular  mixture  of  rabble  giddiness  and  sacred  care 
which  distinguished  my  countrymen  above  all  nations  was 
fully  displayed  in  those  final  hours,  and  the  walls  that  in- 
closed a  million  of  rioters  and  robbers  weie  guarded  with 
the  solemn  vigilance  of  a  sanctuary. 

No  argument  could  prevail  with  the  peasantry  at  the 
gates  to  let  me  pass.  My  rank  and  even  my  public  name 
went  for  little  in  the  scale  against  the  possibility  of  my 
renewing  the  treaty  with  an  enemy  whom  they  now  scorned, 
and  I  was  doubting  whether  I  must  not  lose  the  night  by 
the  reluctance  of  those  rough  but  honest  sentinels,  when 
I  was  cheered  by  seeing  one  of  the  head  men  of  their  tribe 
arrive.  He  had  been  a  furious  partisan;  honor  and  hon- 
esty were  his  declared  worship;  and  his  horror  of  humbler 
motives  was  fierceness  itself.  This  was  enough  for  me. 
1  knew  what  public  vehemence  rneans.  I  took  him  aside, 
without  ceremony  put  gold  into  his  grasp,  and  saw  the 
gate  thrown  open  before  rne  by  the  immaculate  hand  of  the 
patriotic  Jonathan. 

While  I  had  scarcely  congratulated  myself  on  having 
passed  this  formidable  barrier,  and  was  still  within  the 
defences,  the  trampling  of  horse  echoed  on  the  road.  The 
rngiit  was  clear,  and  there  was  no  hope  of  avoiding  them. 
A  large  body  of  Idumean  horsemen  came  on,  escorting 
waggons  of  provisions.  The  foremost  riders  were  half 
asleep,  and  I  was  in  strong  hope  of  eluding  them  all,  when 
one  of  the  drivers,  in  the  wantonness  of  authority,  laid  his 


376  8ALATHIEL. 

whip  on  me.  I  rashly  returned  the  blow,  and  the  man  fell 
off  his  horse.  I  was  surrounded,  charged  with  murder; 
was  brought  before  their  chieftain,  and  found  that  chieftain 
Onias ! 

My  old  enemy  recognized  me  instantly,  and  with  undy- 
ing revenge  firing  every  feature,  demanded  whither  I  was 
going. 

"To  the  Roman  camp,"  was  the  direct  answer. 

"The  purpose?" 

"To  have  an  interview  with  the  Roman  general." 

"You  come,  deputed  by  the  authorities!" 

"By  not  one  of  them." 

"I  long  ago  knew  you  to  be  a  daring  fellow,  but  you 
exceed  my  opinion.  We  cannot  spare  heroes  from  Jeru- 
salem at  this  time;  you  must  turn  back  with  us." 

"By  what  right  ?"  ' 

"By  the  right  of  the  stronger." 

^With  what  object?" 

"That  you  may  be  hanged  as  a  deserter.  It  will  save 
you  the  trouble  of  going  to  Titus,  to  be  hanged  as  a  spy." 

I  disdained  reply,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  circle  of  barba- 
rians exulting  over  their  capture,  as  if  they  had  taken  the 
chief  enemy  of  the  state,  was  marched  back  to  the  walls. 

There,  I  was  not  the  only  person  disturbed  by  the  ad- 
venture. The  first  glimpse  of  me  caught  by  Jonathan 
exhibited  everything  that  could  be  ludicrous  in  the  shape 
of  consternation.  To  the  inquiries  how  I  was  suffered  to 
pass,  he  answered  by  an  appeal  to  his  "honor,"  which  he 
again  valued,  in  my  presence  too,  "as  the  most  invaluable 
possession  of  the  citizen  soldier."  He  said  the  words  with- 
out a  blush,  and  I  even  listened  to  them  without  a  smile. 
He  probably  trembled  a  little  for  his  bribe;  but  he  soon 
discovered  by  my  look  that  I  considered  the  money  as  too 
far  gone  to  be  worth  pursuing. 

Yet  Onias,  who  seemed  to  know  him  as  well  as  I,  fixed 
on  him  a  scrutinizing  aspect,  of  all  others  the  most  hateful 
to  a  delicate  conscience,  and  his  only  resource  was  to  heap 
opprobrium  upon  me.  "How  I  had  contrived  to  escape  the 
guard,"  said  Jonathan,  "was  totally  inconceivable,  unless  it 

was  by "  I  gave  him  an  .assuring  glance — "by  imposing 

on  the  credulity  of  some  of  the  ignorant  peasants ;  possibly 
even  by  direct  corruption.    But,  to  put  the  matter  out  of 


8ALATHIEL.  377 

further  possibility,  he  would  proceed  to  examine  the  pris- 
oner's person." 

He  proceeded  accordingl}',  and  from  my  sash  took  my 
purse,  as  a  public  precaution.  He  was  a  vigilant  guardian 
of  the  state,  for  the  purse  was  never  restored. 

Onias  looked  at  him,  during  his  harangue,  with  a  coun- 
tenance between  contempt  and  ridicule. 

"I  must  go  forward  now,"  said  he,  "but,  captain,  see 
to  your  prisoner.  He  must  answer  before  the  council  to- 
morrow, and  as  you  have  so  worthily  disabled  him  from 
operations  with  the  guard,  your  own  head  is  answerable  for 
his  safe  keeping."  My  enemy,  to  make  all  sure,  himself 
saw  me  lodged  within  the  tower  over  the  gate,  comforted  his 
soul  by  a  parting  promise  that  my  time  was  come,  and  rode 
off  with  his  Idumeans — to  the  boundless  satisfaction  of  the 
scrupulous  and  much-alarmed  Jonathan. 

The  tower  was  massive,  and  there  was  no  probability 
that  anything  less  than  a  Koman  battering-ram  would  ever 
lay  open  its  solid  sides.  The  captain  had  recovered  his 
virtue  at  the  instant  of  my  losing  my  purse,  and  I  now 
could  no  more  dream  of  sapping  his  integrity  than  of  sap- 
ping the  huge  blocks  of  the  tower.  Whether  I  was  to  be 
prisoner  for  the  night,  or  for  the  siege,  or  to  glut  the  axe 
by  morning,  were  questions  which  lay  in  the  bosom  of 
as  implacable  a  villain  as  long-delayed  revenge  ever  made 
malignant;  but  what  was  to  become  of  my  child,  of  my 
family,  of  my  share  in  the  great  cause,  for  which  alone  life 
was  of  value? 

The  chamber  to  which  I  was  consigned  was  at  the  top 
of  the  tower,  and  overlooked  a  vast  extent  of  country. 
Before  me  were  the  Eoman  camps,  seen  clearly  in  the  moon- 
light, and  wrapped  in  silence,  except  when  the  solitary 
trumpet  sounded  the  watch,  or  the  heavy  tread  of  a  troop 
going  its  rounds  was  heard.  The  city  sounds  were  but  the 
murmur  of  the  sinking  tide  of  the  multitude.  The  spring 
was  in  her  glory.  The  air  came  fresh  and  sweet  from  the 
fields.  All  was  tranquillity ;  yet  what  a  mass  of  destructive 
power  was  lying  motionless  under  that  tranquillity !  Fire, 
sword,  and  man  were  before  me — elements  of  evil  that  a 
touch  could  rouse  into  tempest,  not  to  be  allayed  but  by 
torrents  of  blood  and  the  ruin  of  empires. 


378  8ALATHIEL. 

CHAPTER  LVI. 

WHILE  my  mind  was  wandering  away  in  thoughts  of  the 
madness  of  ambition  in  so  brief  a  being  as  man,  I  heard  a 
loud  clamor  of  voices  in  the  chambers  below.  The  rustic 
guard  had  been  enjoying  themselves,  but  their  wine  was 
already  out,  and  they  set  their  faces  boldly  against  the  dis- 
cipline which  pretended  to  limit  the  wine  of  patriots  so 
true  and  thirsty.  The  clamor  arose  from  the  discovery  that 
the  cellars  of  the  tower  had  been  examined  by  a  previous 
guard,  who  provided  for  the  temperance  of  their  success- 
ors by  taking  the  whole  temptation  to  themselves.  High 
words  followed  between  the  abettors  of  discipline  and  the 
partisans  of  the  vintage;  and  if  my  door  were  but  un- 
barred, I  might  have  expeditiously  relieved  the  captain  of 
his  charge.  But  its  bolts  were  enormous,  and  I  tried  them 
in  vain.  As  I  was  giving  up  the  effort,  a  light  footstep 
ascended  the  stairs ;  a  key  turned  in  the  ponderous  wards, 
and  the  minstrel  of  the  tent  stood  before  me. 

"If  you  wish  to  escape  from  certain  death,"  he  whis- 
pered, "do  as  I  bid  you."  He  looked  from  the  casement, 
sang  a  few  notes,  and,  on  being  answered  from  without, 
pulled  up  a  rope,  which  we  hauled  in  together.  The  task 
v  as  of  some  difficulty,  but  at  length  a  weighty  basket  ap- 
peared, loaded  with  wine.  He  took  a  portion  of  the  con- 
traband freight  in  his  hands,  and  without  a  word  disap- 
peared. I  heard  his  welcome  proclaimed  below  with  loud 
applause.  Half  the  guard  were  instantly  on  the  stairs  to 
assist  him  down  with  the  remainder;  but  against  this  he 
firmly  protested,  and  threatened,  in  case  of  a  single  at- 
tempt to  interfere  with  his  operations,  that  he  would  awake 
the  captain,  and  publicly  give  back  this  incomparable  pri- 
vate store  to  the  legitimate  hand.  The  threat  was  effect- 
ive; the  unlading  of  the  basket  was  left  to  his  own  dex- 
terity, and  at  length  but  one  solitary  flask  lay  before  us. 

"You  deserve  some  payment  for  your  trouble,"  said  he, 
with  Ihe  careless  and  jovial  air  of  his  brethren.  "Here's 
to  jour  night's  enterprise,  whatever  it  be,"  pouring  out  a 
few  d^ops  and  tasting  them,  while  he  gave  a  large  draught 
tc  my  feverish  lips.  "And  now,  good-night,  my  prince, 
unless  you  love  the  tower  too  much  to  take  leave  of  thig 
gallant  guard  by  a  window." 


SALATHIEL.  379 

"But,  boy,  if  you  should  be  detected  in  assisting  my 
escape  ?" 

"I  have  no  fear  of  that,"  said  he.  "I  have  been  detected 
in  all  sorts  of  frolics  in  my  time,  and  yet  here  I  am.  The 
truth  is,  my  prince,  I  have  travelled  in  your  country,  and 
have  an  old  honor  for  your  name.  No  later  than  to-day 
you  gave  me  the  handsomest  present  I  have  got  since  I 
came  within  the  walls.  I  know  the  noble  captain  of  the 
guard  to  be  a  thorough  knave,  and  the  mighty  Onias  to 
want  nothing  for  wickedness  but  the  opportunity ;  in  short, 
the  thought  occurred  to  me,  on  seeing  you,  to  help  the 
honest  revellers  below  to  a  little  more  wine  than  was  good 
for  their  understandings,  the  contraband  being  a  com- 
modity in  which,  between  ourselves,  I  deal;  and  further, 
to  break  the  laws  by  assisting  you  to  leave  captain,  senti- 
nels, and  all  behind." 

I  asked  what  was  to  be  done.  "If  you  value  your  life, 
be  the  substitute  for  the  empty  flasks,  and  make  your  way 
through  the  air  like  a  bird.  I  shall  be  safe  enough.  You 
need  have  no  fears  for  me." 

I  coiled  the  rope  round  a  beam,  forced  myself  through 
the  narrow  casement,  and  launched  out  into  air,  at  a 
height  of  a  hundred  feet.  If  I  felt  any  distrust,  it  was; 
brief.  I  was  rapidly  lowered  down,  passing  the  successive- 
casements,  in  which  I  saw  the  successive  watches  of  the: 
guard  drinking,  sleeping,  singing,  and  discussing  public- 
affairs  with  village  rationality.  Luckily,  no  eye  turned. 
upon  the  fugitive,  and  the  ground  was  touched  at  last. 

In  another  moment  the  minstrel  came,  rather  flying  than- 
eliding,  down  the  rope.  I  said  something  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  this  service;  but  he  laid  his  finger  on  his  lip,  and 
pointing  to  the  rampart,  where  a  moving  torch  showed  me 
that  we  were  still  within  observation,  led  on  through  paths 
beset  with  thickets  that  no  eye  could  penetrate,  but,  as  he 
laughingly  said,  "that  of  a  supplier  of  garrisons  with  con- 
traband." But  their  intricacy  offered  no  obstruction  to 
this  stripling:  and,  after  amusing  himself  with  my  per- 
plexities, he  led  me  to  the  verge  of  the  plain. 

"I  have  detained  you,"  said  he,  "in  these  brambles  for 
the  double  purpose  of  avoiding  the  look-out  from  the  bat- 
tlements, and  of  giving  the  moon  time  to  hide  her  blush- 
ing beauties."  She  lay  reddening  with  the  mists  on  the. 


380  SALATHIEL. 

horizon.  "She  has  been  often  called  our  mother,  and,  a? 
her  children,  the  minstrels  are  allowed  the  privilege  of 
keeping  later  hours  and  being  madder  than  the  mob  of 
mankind.  But  like  other  children,  we  are  sometini* 
gaged  in  matters  which  would  dispense  with  the  maternal 
eye;  and  to-night  I  wished  that  she  was  many  a  fathom 
below  the  ocean.  Mother,"  said  he,  throwing  himself  into 
an  attitude,  "take  a  child's  blessing,  and  begone."  The 
words  were  spoken  to  a  touch  on  his  little  harp — rambling, 
but  singularly  sweet.  "Do  you  know,"  said  he,  with  a 
sigh,  as  he  turned  and  saw  me  gazing  in  admiration  of 
his  skill,  "I  am  weary  to  death  of  my  profession." 

"Then  why  not  leave  it?  you  are  fit  for  better  things; 
your  skill  is  of  the  very  nature  that  makes  its  way  in  the 
world." 

"Why  not  leave  it?  For  a  hundred  reasons.  In  the  first 
place,  I  should  be  more  wearied  of  every  other.  I  should 
be  the  bird  in  the  cage,  fed,  sheltered,  and  possibly  a 
favorite.  But  what  bird  would  not  rather  take  the  chance 
of  the  open  air,  even  to  be  scorched  by  the  summer  and 
frozen  by  the  winter?  No;  let  me  clap  my  pinions,  and 
sing  my  song  under  the  free  canopy  of  the  skies;  or  be 
voiceless,  and  wingless,  and — dead." 

He  hung  his  head  over  the  harp,  and  let  his  fingers 
stray  among  the  strings.  The  moon  was  now  touching  the 
mountains.  "We  must  be  gone,"  said  I.  "I  owe  you 
something  for  your  night's  service,  which  shall  be  repaid 
by  taking  you  into  my  household,  should  the  siege  be 
raised ;  if  not,  you  are  but  as  you  were." 

He  was  all  nervous  excitement  at  the  offer,  wept, 
laughed,  danced,  rang  a  prelude  upon  the  strings,  kissed 
my  hand,  and  finally  bounded  away  before  me.  I  called 
to  him,  repeating  my  wish  that  he  should  go  no  further. 

"Impossible,"  said  he ;  "you  would  be  lost  in  a  moment. 
If  I  had  not  crossed  the  ground  hundreds  of  times,  I 
should  never  be  able  to  find  my  road.  Half  a  mile  forward, 
ii,  is  all  rampart,  trench,  and  ravine.  You  would  be 
stopped  by  a  myriad  of  sentinels.  Nothing  on  earth  could 
get  to  the  foot  of  vonder  hills,  but  an  armv — or  a  min- 
strel." 

He  ran  on  before  me,  and  ran  with  a  rapidity  that  tasked 
even  my  foot  to  follow.  We  soon  came  into  the  fortified 


SALATHIEL.  381 

ground,  and  I  then  felt  his  value.  He  led  me  Over  fosse 
and  rampart,  up  the  scarp  and  through  the  palisade,  with 
the  sagacity  of  instinct.  But  this  was  not  all.  I  re- 
peatedly saw  the  sentinels  within  a  few  feet  of  us,  and 
expected  to  be  challenged  every  moment;  but  not  a  syl- 
lable was  heard.  I  passed,  with  patrols  of  the  legionary 
horse  on  either  side  of  me;  still  not  a  word.  I  walked 
through  the  rows  of  tents,  in  which  the  troops  were  pre- 
paring for  the  duties  of  the  morning.  Not  an  eye  fell  upon 
me;  and  I  almost  began  to  believe  myself,  like  a  hero  of 
the  heathen  fables,  covered  with  a  cloud. 

The  boy  still  continued  racing  along,  until,  on  reach-- 
ing the  summit  of  a  mound  at  some  distance  in  front  of 
me,  he  uttered  a  cry  and  fell.  I  had  heard  no  challenge; 
and  hurried  towards  him.  A  flight  of  arrows  whizzed 
over  my  head;  and  the  black  visages  of  a  mob  of  Ethio- 
pian riders  came,  bouncing  up  a  hollow  between  us.  It 
was  not  my  purpose  to  fight,  even  if  I  had  any  hope  of 
success  against  marksmen  who  could  hit  an  elephant's 
eye.  I  surrendered  in  every  language  of  which  I  was 
capable.  But  the  Ethiopians  only  shook  their  woolly 
heads,  laid  hands  on  me,  and  began  an  investigation  of 
my  riches,  creditable  to  polished  society.  Barbarians,  with 
a  tongue  and  physiognomy  worthy  only  of  their  kindred 
baboons,  probed  every  plait  of  my  garments,  with  an 
accuracy  that  could  have  been  surpassed  only  in  the  most 
civilized  custom-houses  of  the  empire.  A  succession  of 
shrieks,  which  I  mistook  for  rage,  but  which  were  the 
mirth  of  those  sons  of  darkness,  were  the  prelude  to  meas- 
ures which  augured  more  formidable  consequences.  A  rope 
was  thrown  over  my  arms,  and  I  was  led  towards  the  out- 
posts. 

Yet  even  the  neighborhood  of  their  Eoman  friends  did 
not  seem  the  most  congenial  to  my  captors.  More  than 
one  consultation  was  held,  in  which  their  white  teeth  were 
bared  to  the  jaw  with  rage,  and  their  scimitars  were 
whirled  like  so  many  flashes  of  lightning  about  each 
other's  turbans,  before  they  could  decide  whether  my 
throat  was  to  be  cut  on  the  spot,  to  get  rid  of  an  incum- 
brance:  or  they  were  to  try  how  far  the  emptiness  of  my 
purse  might  not  be  made  up  by  the  reward  for  the  cap- 
ture of  a  spy,  in  the  trappings  of  a  chieftain. 


SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

I  gave  up  remonstrance,  where,  if  I  had  all  the  tongues' 
of  Babel,  none  of  them  seemed  likely  to  answer  my  pur- 
pose; and  reserving  the  nice  distinction  between  an  am- 
bassador and  a  spy  for  more  cultivated  ears,  quietly  walked 
onward  in  the  midst  of  this  troop  of  thieves ;  the  more  in- 
sensible to  honesty  or  argument,  as  they  were  privileged 
according  to  law.  But  our  approach  to  the  camp  bred  an- 
other difficulty.  The  troop  felt  an  obvious  disinclination 
to  come  too  close  to  the  legionaries.  Untutored  as  the 
negroes  were,  they  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  official 
conscience;  and  they  bowed  to  the  mastery  of  the  white  in 
plunder,  as  among  the  accomplishments  of  an  advanced 


age 


All  could  not  venture  to  the  camp;  yet,  who  was  to  be 
intrusted  with  receiving  the  reward?  The  discussion  was 
carried  on  chiefly  by  gesture,  which  sometimes  proceeded  to 
blows;  and  at  last  was  wound  up  to  such  vigor  that  a 
brawny  ruffian,  to  preserve  the  peace,  seized  the  rope,  and 
dragging  me  out  of  the  circle,  began  sharpening  his  scimi- 
tar, to  extinguish  the  controversy.  But,  at  the  instant  a 
horrid  outcry  arose;  and  a  figure,  hideous  beyond  concep- 
tion, not  a  foot  high,  blacker  than  the  blackest,  and  dart- 
ing flames  from  its  mouth,  bounded  in  among  us,  mounted 
upon  a  wild  beast  of  a  horse  that  kicked  and  tore  at  every- 
thing. The  Ethiopians  shrieked  with  terror,  and  scattered 
on  all  sides  at  the  first  shock;  but  the  ground  was  so  cut 
up  by  the  military  operations,  that  they  stumbled  at  every 
step;  some  were  unhorsed;  some  probably  had  their  necks 
broken,  and  others  carried  home  the  tale,  to  spread  it 
through  the  land  of  lions.  I  heard  it  long  after,  exciting 
the  utmost  amaze  in  a  venerable  circle,  round  one  of  the 
fountains  of  the  Nile. 

I  was  now  saved  from  being  thus  summarily  made  the 
victim  of  peace,  but  was  as  far  as  ever  from  freedom. 
While  I  was  endeavoring  to  loose  the  rope,  a  patrol  of  the 
legionary  horse  came  galloping  from  the  camp;  and  I  was 
seized,  with  this  badge  of  a  bad  character  upon  me.  But 
the  flying  negroes  were  the  more  amusing  object.  There 
was  just  light  enough  to  see  them  rolling  about  the  plain ; 
turbans  flying  off  in  the  air ;  and  the  few  riders,  who  could 
boast  of  keeping  their  seats,  whirled  away  over  brake  and 
brier,  at  the  mercy  of  their  frightened  horses.  This  dis- 


&ALATHIEL.  383 

play,  which  had  been,  at  first,  taken  for  the  prelude  to  an 
assault  on  the  lines,  was  now  a  source  of  pleasantry;  and 
the  horsemanship  of  the  savages  was  honored  with  many 
a  roar. 

My  case  came  next  under  consideration.  "I  was  found 
at  the  edge  of  the  Eoman  entrenchments,  where  to  be 
found  was  to  die;  I  was  besides  taken  with  the  mark  of 
reprobation  upon  me."  I  pleaded  my  own  merits  loudly, 
and  appealed  to  the  rope  as  evidence  that  I  was  not  there 
by  my  own  will.  The  legionaries  were  better  soldiers  than 
logicians,  and  my  defence  perplexed  them :  until  some  pro- 
founder  one  thought  of  inquiring  what  brought  me  there 
at  all.  The  troop  flocked  round  to  hear  my  answer  to 
this  overwhelming  question.  I  told  my  purpose  in  a  few 
words.  The  scale  again  turned  in  my  favor,  and  I  began 
to  think  victory  secure,  when  a  young  standard-bearer, 
who  was  probably  destined  to  rise  in  the  state,  declared, 
with  a  splenetic  tongue  and  brow  of  office,  that  "in  this 
land  of  cheating,  too  much  precaution  could  not  be  adopted 
against  cheats  of  all  colors;  that  the  more  plausible  my 
story  was,  the  more  likely  it  was  to  be  a  falsehood;  and 
finally,  that  as  my  escape  might  do  some  kind  of  mischief, 
while  my  hanging  could  do  none  whatever,  it  was  ad- 
visable to  hang  me  without  delay/' 

The  orator  spoke  the  words  of  popularity;  and  my  fate 
was  sealed.  But  a  new  difficulty  arose.  By  whom  was  the 
sentence  to  be  put  in  execution;  for  the  duty  would  have 
sullied  the  legionary  honor  for  life.  A  trampled  African, 
who  lay  groaning  in  a  ditch  beside  me,  caught  the  sound 
of  the  debate,  dragged  himself  out,  and  offered,  mangled 
a;-  he  was,  to  perform  the  office  for  any  sum  that  their  gen- 
erosity might  think  proper  to  give.  Never  was  man  nearer 
to  paying  the  grand  debt,  than  I  was  at  that  moment.  The 
African  recovered  his  vigor  as  by  magic;  and  the  young 
statesman  took  upon  himself  the  superintendence  of  this 
service  to  his  country.  I  raised  my  voice  loudly  against 
this  violence  to  a  "negotiator;"  but  the  troopers  of  the 
Imperial  horse  had  been  roused  from  their  sleep  on  my 
account,  and  they  were  not  to  return,  liable  to  the  ridicule 
of  having  been  roused  by  a  false  alarm.  I  still  endeavored 
to  put  off  the  evil  hour,  when  the  tramping  of  a  large  body 
of  cavalry  was  heard.  "The  general  I"  exclaimed  the 


384  8ALATBIEL. 

young  officer,  who  evidently  had  an  instinctive  sensibility 
to  the  approach  of  rank. 

"Let  Titus  come,"  said  I,  "or  any  man  of  honor,  and  he 
will  understand  me."  I  tore  the  badge  of  disgrace  from  my 
arms,  and  stepped  forward  to  meet  the  great  son  of  Ves- 
pasian. My  confidence  alarmed  the  troop,  and  the  stand- 
ard-bearer made  way  for  the  man  who  dared  to  speak  to 
the  heir  of  the  throne.  But  the  general  was  not  Titus;  a 
broad,  brutal  countenance,  red  with  excess,  glared  haught- 
ily round.  I  recognized  Cestius:  a  whisper  from  one  of 
the  officers  put  him  in  possession  of  the  circumstances,  and 
he  rode  up  to  me.  "So,  rebel !  you  are  come  to  this  at 
last !  You  have  been  taken  in  the  fact,  and  must  undergo 
your  natural  fate." 

"I  demand  to  be  led  to  your  general.  I  scorn  to  defend 
myself  before  inferiors." 

"Inferiors !"  he  bit  his  vivid  lip.  "Traitor,  you  are  not 
now  on  the  hill  of  Scopas,  at  the  head  of  an  army." 

"Nor  you,"  said  I,  "on  the  plain,  at  the  bead  of  an 
army;  and  so  much  the  more  fortunate  for  both  you  and 
them.  But  I  scorn  to  talk  to  men  whose  backs  I  have  seen. 
Lead  me  to  your  master,  fugitive !" 

The  troops,  unaccustomed  to  this  plain  speaking,  looked 
on  with  wonder.  Cestius  himself  was  staggered;  but  the 
nature  of  the  man  soon  returned ;  and  in  a  voice  of  fury 
he  ordered  a  body  of  Arab  archers,  who  were  seen  moving  at 
a  distance,  to  be  brought  up  for  the  extinction  of  a 
"traitor  unworthy  of  a  Eoman  sword."  The  Arabs,  ex- 
hilarated at  the  prospect  of  employment,  came  up,,  shout- 
ing, tossing  their  lances,  and  shooting  their  arrows.  As  a 
last  resource,  I  solemnly  protested  against  this  murder, 
which  I  pronounced  to  be  the  work  of  a  revenge  disgrace- 
ful to  the  name  of  soldier;  and,  taunting  Cestius  with  his 
defeat,  demanded  that,  if  he  doubted  my  honor,  he  should 
try,  on  the  spot,  "which  of  our  swords  was  the  better." 

He  answered  only  by  a  glare  of  rage,  and  a  gesture  to 
the  archers,  who  instantly  threw  themselves  into  a  half- 
circle  round  me,  with  the  expertness  of  proficients  in  the 
trade  of  justice,  and  bended  their  bows.  Determined  to  re- 
sist to  the  last,  I  flung  out  upbraidings  and  scorn  upon  the 
murderer,  which  drove  him  to  hide  his  head  behind  the 
troops.  Another  disturbance  arose.  Scimitars  waved,  tur- 


SALATHIEL.  385 

bans  shook,  horses  plunged;  the  deep  order  was  broken; 
and  at  length  a  horseman,  magnificently  apparelled  and 
mounted,  burst  into  the  ring,  and  looked  fiercely  round. 

"What,  you  miscreants,"  he  shouted,  "who  dares  to  take 
the  command  out  of  my  hands;  down  with  your  bows. 
Commit  murder,  and  I  not  present !  The  first  man  that 
pulls  a  string  shall  leave  an  empty  saddle.  Draw  off,  cut- 
throats, or  if  you  want  to  do  the  world  a  service,  shoot 
one  another." 

I  seemed  to  remember  the  voice;  but  I  gazed  in  vain 
on  the  splendid  figure.  The  turban  that,  blazing  with  gems, 
hung  down  on  his  forehead,  and  the  beard  that,  black  as 
the  raven's  wing,  curled  full  round  his  lip,  completely 
baffled  me.  He  looked  at  me  in  turn,  thrust  out  a  sinewy 
hand,  and,  clasping  mine,  exclaimed  with  a  loud  laugh : 

"Prince,  does  the  plumage  make  you  forget  the  bird? 
What  can  have  brought  you  into  the  hands  of  my  culprits  ? 
I  thought  that  you  were  drowned,  burned,  or  a  candidate 
for  the  imperial  diadem  by  this  time." 

I  now  knew  him.  "My  friend  of  the  free  trade!"  said 
I,  in  a  low  tone. 

He  spoke  in  a  fearless  one.  "By  no  means.  I  have  re- 
formed— am  a  changed  man — captain  of  the  seas  no  more ; 
but  a  loyal  plunderer — in  the  service  of  Vespasian,  and 
in  command  of  a  thousand  Arab  cavalry,  that  will  ride, 
run  away,  and  rob,  with  any  corps  in  the  service;  and  the 
word  is  a  bold  one." 

Our  brief  conference  was  broken  up  by  the  return  of 
Cestius,  who,  outrageous  at  the  delay,  and  coming  to  in- 
quire the  cause,  found  fresh  fuel  for  his  wrath  in  the  sight 
of  the  Arab  captain,  turned  into  my  protector.  With  an 
execration,  he  demanded,  "why  his  orders  had  been  dis- 
obeyed." The  captain  answered,  with  the  most  provoking 
coolness,  that  "no  Roman  officer,  let  his  rank  be  what  it 
might,  was  entitled  to  degrade  the  allies  into  execution- 
ers." The  Roman  grew  furious  with  the  slight  in  the  face 
of  the  troops,  who  highly  enjoyed  it.  The  Arab  grew  more 
sarcastic;  till  Cestius  was  rash  enough  to  lift  his  hand, 
and  the  Arab  anticipated  the  blow,  by  dashing  his  charger 
at  him,  and  leaving  the  general  and  his  horse  struggling 
together  on  the  ground.  An  insult  of  this  kind  to  the 
second  in  command  was,  of  course,  not  to  be  forgiven.  The 


886  SALATHIEL. 

Arabs  bent  their  bows  to  make  battle  for  their  captain, 
but  he  forbade  resistance;  and  when  the  legionary  tribune 
demanded  his  sword,  he  surrendered  it  with  a  smile,  say- 
ing, that  "he  had  done  service  enough  for  one  day,  in 
saving  an  honest  man,  and  punishing  a  ruffian,"  and  that 
he  should  justify  himself  to  Titus  alone. 

My  fate  was  still  undetermined.  But  the  legionaries 
soon  had  more  pressing  matters  to  think  of.  The  clangor 
of  horns  and  shouts  came  in  the  direction  of  the  city.  The 
plain  still  lay  in  shade;  but  I  could  see  through  the  dusk 
immense  crowds  moving  forward,  like  an  inundation.  The 
legions  were  instantly  under  arms,  and  I  stood  a  chance  of 
being  walked  over  by  two  armies ! 

But  I  was  not  to  encounter  so  distinguished  a  catas- 
trophe. Some  symptoms  of  my  inclination  to  escape  at- 
tracted the  eye  of  the  guard,  and  I  was  marched  to  the 
common  repository  of  malefactors,  in  the  rear  of  the  lines. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

MY  new  quarters  were  within  the  walls  of  one  of  those 
huge  country  mansions  which  the  pride  of  our  ancestors 
had  built,  to  be  the  plague  of  their  posterity ;  for  those  the 
enemy  chiefly  employed  for  our  prisons.  Their  solid 
strength  defied  desultory  attack;  time  made  little  other 
impression  on  them  than  to  picture  their  walls  with  in- 
numerable stains ;  and  the  man  must  be  a  practised  prison- 
breaker  who  could  force  his  way  out  of  their  depths  of 
marble.  But  if  my  eyes  were  useless,  my  ears  had  their  full 
indulgence.  Every  sound  of  the  conflict  was  heard.  The 
attack  was  furious,  and  must  have  often  been  close  to  the 
walls  of  my  dungeon.  The  various  rallying-cries  of  the 
tribes  rang  through  its  halls ;  then  a  Roman  shout,  and  tho 
heavy  charge  of  the  cavalry  would  roll  along;  until,  after 
an  encountering  roar  and  a  long  clashing  of  weapons,  the 
tumult  passed  away,  to  be  rapidly  renewed  by  the  obstinate 
bravery  of  my  unfortunate  countrymen. 

I  felt  as  a  man  and  a  leader  must  feel  during  scenes  in 
which  he  ought  to  take  a  part,  yet  to  which  he  was  virtually 
as  dead  as  the  sleeper  in  the  tomb.  My  life  had  been 
activity;  my  heart  was  in  the  cause;  I  had  knowledge, 


BALATHIEL.  387 

zeal  and  strength,  that  might,  in  the  chances  of  battle, 
turn  the  scale.  I  even  often  heard  my  name  among  the 
charging  cries  of  the  day.  But  here  I  lay,  within  impass- 
able barriers.  A  thousand  times  during  those  miserable 
hours  I  measured  their  height  with  iny  eye;  then  threw 
myself  on  the  ground,  and,  closing  my  ears  with  my 
hands,  labored  to  exclude  thought  from  my  soul. 

But  my  fellow-prisoners  were  practical  philosophers  to  a 
man;  untaught  in  the  schools,  'tis  true,  yet  fully  trained 
in  that  great  academe,  worth  all  that  Philosophy  ever 
dreamed  in — experience.  In  all  my  wanderings  through 
mankind,  I  never  before  had  so  ample  an  opportunity  of 
studying  variety  of  character.  War  is  the  hotbed  that 
urges  all  our  qualities,  good  and  evil,  into  their  broadest 
luxuriance.  The  generous  become  munificent;  the  mean 
darken  into  the  villainous;  and  the  rude  harden  into  bru- 
tality. The  camp  is  the  great  inn  at  which  all  the  dubious 
qualities  set  up  their  rest;  and  a  single  campaign  perfects 
the  culprit  to  the  height  of  his  profession.  There  were 
round  me,  in  these  immense  halls,  about  five  hundred 
profligates,  any  one  of  whose  histories  would  have  been 
invaluable  to  a  scorner  of  human  nature. 

Among  the  loose  armies  of  the  East,  those  fellows  exer- 
cised their  vocation  as  regular  appendages;  often  lived  in 
luxury,  and  sometimes  shot  up  into  leaders  themselves. 
But  robbery,  in  the  Roman  armies,  required  master-hands. 
The  temptation  was  strong,  for  the  legionary  was  the  grand 
ravager;  and,  like  the  lion,  he  left  the  larger  share  of  the 
prey  to  the  jackal.  Yet  justice,  inexorable  and  rapid,  was 
his  rule — in  all  cases  but  his  own ;  and  the  jackal,  sus- 
pected of  trespassing  within  the  legitimate  distance  from 
the  superior  savage,  ran  imminent  hazard  of  being  dis- 
qualified for  all  encroachment  to  come.  Three-fourths  of 
my  associates  had  played  this  perilous  game,  and  its  pen- 
alties were  now  awaiting  only  the  first  leisure  of  the  troops. 
Peace,  at  all  times  vexatious  to  their  trade,  had  thus  a 
double  disgust  for  them ;  and  the  most  patriotic  son  of 
Israel  could  not  have  taken  a  more  zealous  interest  in  the 
defeat  of  the  legions.  But  philosophy  still  predominated ; 
hope  was  at  an  end,  hilarity  took  its  place;  and  the  prison 
rang  with  reckless  exhibitions  of  practical  glee,  riotous 
:songs,  and  mockeries  at  rods  and  axes.  In  the  idleness  of 


388  SALATB1EL 

the  lingering  hours,  the  professional  talents  of  those  sons 
of  chance  were  brought  into  play.  The  mimic  collected 
his  audience,  burlesqued  the  pompous  officials  of  the  army, 
and  gathered  his  pence  and  plaudits,  as  if  he  were  under 
the  open  sky,  and  could  call  his  head  his  own.  The  nos- 
trum-vender had  his  secrets  for  the  cure  of  every  ill,  and 
harangued  on  the  impotence  of  brand,  scourge,  and  blade, 
if  the  patient  had  but  the  wisdom  to  employ  his  irresisti- 
ble unguent.  The  soothsayer  sold  fate  at  the  lowest  price, 
and  fixed  the  casualties  of  the  next  f  our-and-twenty  hours ; 
an  easy  task  with  the  principal  part  of  his  audience.  The 
minstrel  chanted  the  pleasures  of  a  life  unencumbered  by 
care  or  conscience;  and  the  pilferer,  with  but  an  hour  to 
live,  exercised  his  trade  with  an  industry  proportioned  to 
the  shortness  of  his  time. 

In  the  whole  gang,  I  met  with  but  one  man  thoroughly 
out  of  spirits.  He  had  obviously  been  no  favorite  of  for- 
tune, for  the  human  form  could  scarcely  be  less  indebted 
to  clothing.  His  swarthy  visage  was  doubly  blackened  by 
hunger  and  exhaustion,  and  even  his  voice  had  a  prison 
sound.  Driven  away  from  the  joyous  groups,  by  the  nat- 
ural repulsion  which  the  careless  feel  at  visages  that  remind 
them  of  trouble,  he  took  refuge  in  the  corner  where  I  lay, 
tormented  by  every  echo  of  the  battle.  Not  unwilling  to  for- 
get the  melancholy  scenes  in  which  every  moment  was 
draining  the  last  blood  of  my  country,  I  turned  to  the 
wretch  beside  me,  and  asked  the  cause  of  his  groans. 

"Ingratitude,"  was  the  reply.  "This  is  a  villainous 
world ;  a  man  may  spend  his  life  in  serving  others,  and 
what  will  he  gain  in  the  end?  Nothing.  There  is,  for  in- 
stance, the  prince  of  Damascus  wallowing  in  wealth ;  yet 
the  greatest  rogue  under  this  roof  has  not  a  more  pitiful 
stock  of  honor.  Witness  his  conduct  to  me.  He  was  out 
of  favor  with  his  uncle,  the  late  prince;  was  not  worth 
more  than  the  raiment  on  his  limbs,  and  as  likely  to  finish 
his  days  on  the  gibbet  as  any  of  the  knot  of  robbers  that 
helped  him  to  scour  the  roads  about  Sidon.  In  his  distress 
he  applied  to  me.  I  had  driven  a  handsome  share  of  the 
free-trade  between  Egj^pt  and  the  north,  and  now  and  then 
gave  him  a  handsome  price  for  his  booty.  The  idea  of 
bringing  his  uncle  to  terms  was  out  of  the  question.  I 
named  my  price;  it  was  allowed  to  be  fair.  I  made  my 


8ALATH1EL.  389 

M*ay  into  the  palace,  was  exalted  to  the  honors  of  cup- 
bearer, and  on  my  first  night  of  office  gave  the  old  man  a 
cup  which  cured  him  of  drunkenness  forever.  And  what 
do  you  think  was  my  reward?" 

"I  could  name  what  it  ought  to  have  been." 

"You  conclude,  half  the  old  man's  jewels,  at  the  least. 
No;  not  a  stone — not  a  shekel.  1  was  thrown  into  chains, 
and  finally  kicked  out  of  the  city,  with  a  promise,  the  only 
one  that  he  will  ever  keep,  that  if  I  venture  there  again, 
shall  leave  it  without  my  head !  There's  gratitude  !  There's 
honor  for  you !" 

He  had  found  a  listener,  and  indulged  his  recollection; 
after  a  variety  of  events,  in  which  he  cheated  everybody,  he 
came  to  one  that  had  some  interest  for  myself. 

"At  last  a  showy  adventurer  changed  the  scene.  Some 
insult  had  stirred  up  his  blood,  and  in  revenge  he  sailed 
away  with  the  prefect's  galley,  and  set  up  on  his  own  ac- 
count. Not  a  sail,  from  a  shallop  to  a  trireme,  could  touch 
the  water  from  the  Cyclades  to  Cyprus  without  being  over- 
hauled by  the  captain.  I  was  set  by  the  prefect  upon  his 
track,  and  got  into  his  good  graces  by  lending  him  a  little 
of  my  information;  of  which  he  made  such  desperate  use, 
that  the  Roman  swore  my  destruction  as  a  traitor.  To 
make  up  the  quarrel,  I  tried  a  wider  game,  and  was  bring- 
ing his  fleet  upon  the  pirates  in  their  very  nest,  when  ill- 
luck  came  across  me.  A  pair  whom,  to  the  last  hour  of  my 
life,  nothing  will  persuade  me  to  think  anything  but  de- 
mons sent  expressly  to  do  me  mischief,  spoiled  one  of  the 
finest  inventions  that  ever  came  into  the  head  of  man. 

"The  consequence  was  that  the  pirates,  instead  of  being- 
attacked,  burned  the  Roman's  trireme  round  him,  and 
would  have  burned  himself  if  he  had  not  thought  a  watery 
end  better  than  a  fiery  one,  leaped  overboard,  and  gone 
straight  to  the  bottom.  The  whole  blame  fell  upon  me, 
and  my  only  payment  was  the  cropping  of  my  ears,  and  a 
declaration,  sworn  to  in  the  names  of  Romulus  and  Re- 
mus, that  if  I  ever  ventured  again  within  a  Roman  camp 
or  city,  I  should  not  get  of!  so  well.  Ingratitude  again ! 
never  was  man  so  unfortunate." 

"Quite  the  contrary;  it  appears  to  me  that  seldom  was 
man  so  lucky.  If  one  in  a  hundred  would  have  your  tale 
to  tell,  not  one  in  a  thousand  would  have  lived  to  tell  it." 
I  had  already  recognized  the  Egyptian  of  the  cavern. 


390  8ALATHIEL. 

"But  justice,  honor!" 

"Say  no  more  about  them.  Whatever  the  Romans  may 
be  in  the  matter  of  justice,  your  case  is  an  answer  to  ail 
charges  on  their  mercy." 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  ghastly  grimace,  and  as  he  threw 
back  the  long  and  squalid  locks  that  covered  his  counte- 
nance, showed  what  beggary  had  done  to  the  sleek  features 
of  the  once  superbly  clothed  and  jewelled  sea-rover.  "But 
what,"  said  I,  "threw  a  man  of  your  virtue  among  such  a 
gang  of  caitiffs  as  are  here?" 

"Another  instance  of  ingratitude.  I  had  been  for  twenty 
years  connected  with  one  of  the  leading  men  of  Jerusalem, 
and  I  will  say,  that  in  my  experience  of  mankind,  I  have 
known  no  individual  less  perplexed  with  weakness  of  con- 
science. He  had  a  difficult  game  to  play,  between  th.? 
liomans,  whom  he  served  privately,  the  Jews,  whom  he 
served  publicly,  and  himself,  whom  he  served  with  at  least 
as  much  zeal  as  either  of  his  employers.  The  times  were 
made  for  the  success  of  a  man  who  has  his  eyes  open,  and 
suffers  neither  the  fear  of  anything  on  earth,  nor  the  hope 
of  anything  after  it,  to  shut  them.  He  succeeded  accord' 
ingly ;  got  rid  of  some  rivals  by  the  dagger ;  sent  others  to 
the  dungeon ;  bribed  where  money  would  answer  his  pur^ 
pose ;  threatened  where  threats  would  be  current  coin ;  and 
by  the  practice  of  those  natural  means  of  rising  in  public 
affairs,  became  the  hope  of  a  faction.  But  on  his  glory 
there  was  one  cloud — the  prince  of  Naphtali !" 

I  listened  all  ear.  I  had  deeply  known  the  early  hostility 
of  Onias,  but  his  devices  were  too  tortuous  for  me  to  trace, 
and  until  the  past  night  I  had  lost  sight  of  him  for  years. 
I  asked  what  cause  of  bitterness  existed  between  those 
personages. 

"A  hundred,  as  generally  happens  where  the  imagination 
becomes  a  party,  and  the  accuser  is  the  judge.  The  prince, 
in  his  youth,  and  before  he  attained  his  rank,  had  the 
insolence  to  fall  in  love  with  the  woman  marked  by  Onias 
for  his  own.  He  had  the  additional  insolence  to  win  her; 
and  the  completion  of  his  crimes  was  marriage.  Onias 
thenceforth  swore  his  ruin.  Public  convulsions  put  off  the 
promise;  and,  while  he  was  driven  to  his  last  struggle  to 
keep  himself  among  the  living,  he  had  the  angry  indulgence 
of  seeing  the  young  husband  shoot  upr  without  any  trouble, 
into  rank,  wealth'  and  renown." 


SALATH1EL.  391 

"But  has  not  time  blunted  his  hostility  ?"  I  asked. 

"Time,  as  the  proverb  goes,  blunts  nothing  but  a  man's 
wit,  his  teeth,  and  his  good  intentions,"  said  the  knave,  with 
a  sneer  on  his  grim  visage.  "The  next  half  of  the  proverb 
is,  that  it  sharpens  wine,  women,  and  wickedness.  What 
Onias  may  have  been  doing  of  late  I  can  only  guess;  but, 
unless  he  is  changed  by  miracle,  he  has  been  dealing  in 
every  villainous  contrivance,  from  subordination  to  sorcery. 
I  had  my  own  affairs  to  mind.  But,  unless  Satan  owes  him 
a  grudge,  he  is  now  not  far  from  his  revenge." 

I  thought  of  our  meeting  at  the  city  gates ;  and,  alarmed 
at  the  chance  of  his  discovering  my  family,  anxiously  asked 
whether  Onias  had  obtained  any  late  knowledge  of  his 
rival  ? 

"Of  that  I  know  but  little,"  said  he;  "yet,  quick  as  his 
revenge  may  be,  unless  my  honest  employer  manages  with 
more  temper  than  usual,  he  will  rue  the  hour  when  he  set 
foot  on  the  track  of  the  prince  of  Naphtali.  If  ever  man 
possessed  the  mastery  of  the  spirits  that  our  wizards  pretend 
to  raise,  the  prince  is  that  man.  I  myself  have  hunted  him 
for  years,  yet  he  always  baffled  me.  I  have  laid  traps  for 
him  that  nothing  in  human  cunning  could  have  escaped; 
yet  he  broke  through  them  as  if  they  were  spiders'  webs. 
I  saw  him  sent  to  the  thirstiest  lover  of  blood  that  ever  sat 
on  a  throne.  Yet  he  came  back;  ay,  from  the  very  clutch 
of  Nero.  I  maddened  his  friends  against  him,  and  he  con- 
trived to  escape  even  from  the  malice  of  his  friends :  a  mat- 
ter which,  you  will  own,  is  among  the  most  memorable.  I 
had  him  plunged  into  a  dungeon ;  where  I  kept  him  alive, 
for  certain  reasons,  while  Onias  was  to  be  kept  to  his  bar- 
gain by  the  prisoner's  reappearance.  Yet  he  escaped;  and 
my  last  intelligence  of  him  is,  that  he  is  at  this  moment 
living  in  pomp  in  Jerusalem,  the  spot  where  I  have  been  for 
the  last  month  in  close  pursuit  of  him.  Time,  or  some 
marvellous  power,  must  have  disguised  him.  And  yet,  if  I 
were  to  meet  him  this  night " 

"Look  on  me,  slave !"  I  exclaimed,  and,  grasping  him  by 
the  throat,  unsheathed  my  dagger.  "You  have  found  him, 
and  to  your  cost.  Villain !  it  is  to  you  then  that  I  owe  so 
much  misery.  Make  your  peace  with  Heaven,  if  you  can ; 
for  it  would  be  a  crime  to  suffer  you  to  leave  this  spot 
alive." 


392  8ALATHIEL. 

He  was  dumb  with  terror.  I  held  him  with  an  iron 
grasp.  The  thought  that  if  he  escaped  me,  it  must  be  only 
to  let  loose  a  murderer  against  my  house,  made  me  feel  his 
death  an  act  of  justice. 

"Let  me  go,"  he  at  last  muttered;  "let  me  live;  I  am, 
not  fit  to  die.  In  the  name  of  that  Lord  whom  you  wor- 
ship, spare  me !"  He  fell  at  my  feet,  in  desperate  and  howl- 
ing supplication.  "You  have  not  heard  all;  I  have  ab- 
jured your  enemy.  Spare  me,  and  I  will  swear  to  pass 
my  days  in  the  desert ;  never  to  come  again  before  the  face 
of  man;  to  lie  upon  the  rock — to  live  upon  the  weed — to 
drink  of  the  pool,  until  I  sink  into  the  grave !" 

I  paused  in  disgust  at  the  abject  eagerness  for  life  in  a 
wretch  self-condemned!  While  I  held  the  dagger  before 
him,  his  senses  continued  bound  up  by  fear.  He  gazed 
on  it  with  an  eye  that  quivered  with  every  quivering  of 
the  steel.  With  one  hand  he  grasped  my  uplifted  arm  as 
he  knelt,  and  with  the  other  gathered  his  rags  round  his 
throat  to  cover  it  from  the  blow.  His  voice  was  lost  in 
horrid  gaspings;  his  mouth  was  wide  open  and  livid.  I 
sheathed  the  weapon,  and  his  countenance  instantly  re- 
turned into  its  old  grimace.  A  ghastly  smile  grew  upon  it 
as  he  now  drew  from  his  bosom  a  small  packet. 

"If  you  had  put  me  to  death,"  said  the  wretch,  "you 
would  have  lost  your  best  friend.  This  packet  contains  a 
correspondence  for  which  Onias  would  give  all  that  he  is 
worth  in  the  world;  and  well  he  might,  for  the  man  who 
has  it  in  his  hands  has  his  life.  The  world  is  made  up  of 
ingratitude.  After  all  my  services — slandering  here,  plun- 
dering there,  hunting  down  his  opponents  in  every  direc- 
tion, till  they  either  put  themselves  out  of  the  world,  or 
he  saved  them  the  trouble ;  he  had  the  baseness  to  throw  me 
off.  At  the  head  of  his  troops  he  kicked  me  from  his  horse's 
side,  ordering  me  to  be  turned  loose ;  'to  carry  my  treachery 
to  the  Romans,  if  they  should  be  fools  enough  to  think  me 
worth  the  hire.'  I  took  him  at  his  word.  I  was  watching 
my  opportunity  to  enter  Jerusalem,  and  stab  him  to  the 
heart,  when  I  was  taken  by  some  of  the  plunderers  that 
hover  round  the  camp,  and  am  now  probably  to  suffer,  for 
the  benefit  of  Roman  morality,  as  a  robber  and  assassin,  as 
soon  as  the  legions  shall  have  murdered  every  man  and 
robbed  every  mansion  in  Jerusalem." 


SALATHIEL.  393 

The  packet  contained  a  correspondence  of  Onias  with  the 
Romans.  A  sensation  of  triumph  glowed  through  me — I 
held  the  fate  of  my  implacable  enemy  in  my  hand.  I  could 
now  with  a  word  strike  to  the  earth  the  being  whose  arti- 
fices and  cruelties  had  waylaid  me  through  life;  and  the 
traitor  to  my  country  would  perish  by  the  same  blow  that 
avenged  my  own  wrongs.  My  nature  was  made  for  passion. 
In  love  and  hatred,  in  ambition,  in  revenge,  my  original 
spirit  knew  no  bounds.  Time,  sorrow,  and  the  conviction 
of  my  own  outcast  state,  had  partially  softened  those  haz- 
ardous impulses,  and  I  found  the  value  of  adversity.  Mis- 
fortune comes  with  healing  on  its  wings  to  the  burning 
temper  of  the  heart,  as  the  tempest  comes  to  the  arid  soil : 
it  tears  up  the  surface,  but  softens  it  for  the  seeds  of  the 
nobler  virtues;  even  in  its  feeblest  work  it  cools  the  with- 
ering and  devouring  heat  for  a  time.  I  had  yet  to  find 
with  what  fatal  rapidity  the  heart  gives  way  to  its  old 
overwhelming  temptations. 

"I  spare  your  life,"  said  I,  "but  on  one  condition — that 
you  henceforth  make  Onias  the  constant  object  of  your 
vigilance;  that  you  keep  him  from  all  injury  to  me  and 
mine;  and  that,  when  I  shall  seize  him  at  last,  you  shall 
be  forthcoming  to  give  public  proof  of  his  treachery." 

"This  sounds  well,"  said  the  Egyptian,  as  he  cast  his 
eyes  round  the  lofty  hall;  "but  it  would  sound  better  if 
we  were  not  on  this  side  of  the  gate.  All  the  talking  in 
the  world  will  not  sink  these  walls  an  inch,  nor  make  that 
gate  turn  on  its  hinges;  though  for  that,  and  for  every 
other  too,  there  is  one  master-key.  Happy  was  the  time" 
— and  the  fellow's  sullen  eye  lighted  up  with  the  joy  of 
knavery — "when  I  could  walk  through  everv  cabinet,  cham- 
ber and  cell,  from  the  emperor's  palace  in  Rome  down  to 
the  emperor's  dungeon  in  Cassarea." 

I  produced  a  few  coins  which  I  had  been  enabled  to  con- 
ceal, and  flung  them  into  his  clutch.  The  sum  rekindled 
life  in  him;  avarice  has  its  enthusiasts  as  well  as  super- 
stition. He  forgot  danger,  prison  and  even  my  dagger, 
in  the  sight  of  his  idol.  He  turned  the  coins  to  the  light 
in  all  possible  ways ;  he  tried  them  with  his  teeth ;  he  tasted, 
he  kissed,  he  pressed  them  to  his  bosom.  Never  was  lover 
more  rapturous  than  this  last  of  human  beings  at  the  touch 
of  money,  in  the  midst  of  wretchedness  and  ruin.  His 


394  8ALATHIEL. 

transports  taught  me  a  lesson ;  and  in  that  prison,  and  from 
that  slave  of  vice,  I  learned  long  to  tremble  at  the  power 
of  gold  over  the  human  mind. 

It  was  past  midnight,  and  the  noise  of  the  criminals 
round  me  had  already  sunk  away.  The  floor  was  strewed 
with  sleepers,  and  the  only  waking  figure  was  the  sentinel, 
as  he  trod  wearily  along  the  passages,  when  the  Egyptian, 
desiring  me  to  feign  sleep,  that  his  further  operations 
might  not  be  embarrassed,  drew  himself  along  the  ground 
towards  him.  The  soldier,  a  huge  Dacian,  covered  with 
beard  and  iron,  and  going  his  rounds  with  the  insensibility 
of  a  machine,  all  but  trod  upon  the  Egyptian,  who  lay 
crouching  and  writhing  before  him.  I  saw  the  spear  lifted 
up  and  heard  a  growl  that  made  me  think  my  envoy's  career 
at  an  end  in  this  world.  He  still  lay  on  the  ground,  writh- 
ing under  the  sentinel's  foot,  as  a  serpent  might  under  the 
paw  of  a  lion. 

I  was  about  to  spring  up  and  interpose ;  but  his  time  was 
not  yet  come.  The  spear  hung  in  air,  gradually  turned  its 
point  upwards,  and  finally  resumed  its  seat  of  peace  on  the 
Dacian's  shoulder.  That  art  of  persuasion  which  speaks 
to  the  palm,  and  whose  language  is  of  all  nations,  had 
touched  the  son  of  Thrace;  I  heard  the  sound  of  the  coin 
on  the  marble;  a  few  words  arranged  the  details.  The 
sentinel  discovered  that  his  vigilance  was  required  in  an- 
other direction,  broke  off  his  customary  round,  and  walked 
away.  The  Egyptian  turned  to  me  with  a  triumphant 
smile  on  his  hideous  visage,  the  gate  rolled  on  its  hinge, 
and  he  slipped  out  like  a  shadow. 

At  the  instant  my  mind  misgave  me.  I  had  put  the  fate 
of  my  family  into  the  hands  of  a  slave,  destitute  of  even 
the  pretence  of  principle.  In  my  eagerness  to  save,  might 
I  not  have  been  delivering  them  up  to  their  enemy?  He 
had  sold  Onias  to  me;  might  he  not  make  his  peace  by 
selling  me  to  Onias?  The  gate  was  still  open.  A  few 
steps  would  put  me  beyond  bondage.  Yet  I  had  come  to 
claim  Esther.  If  I  left  the  camp,  what  hope  was  there  of 
my  ever  seeing  this  child  of  my  heart  again?  Would  not 
every  hour  of  my  life  be  embittered  by  the  chance  that  she 
might  be  suffering  the  miseries  of  a  dungeon,  or  borne 
away  into  a  strange  land,  or  dying,  and  calling  on  her 
father  for  help  in  vain? 


SALATHIEL.  395 

Those  contending  impulses  passed  through  my  mind 
with  the  speed  and  almost  with  the  agony  of  an  arrow. 
The  more  1  thought  of  the  Egyptian,  the  more  I  took  his 
treachery  for  certain.  But  the  present  ruin  of  all  pre- 
dominated over  the  possible  sufferings  of  one ;  and  with 
a  heart  throbbing  almost  to  suffocation,  and  a  step  scarcely 
able  to  move,  I  dragged  myself  towards  the  portal. 


CHAPTEK  LVIII. 

BUT  I  was  not  to  escape.  As  I  reached  the  gate  a  loud 
sound  of  trampling  feet  and  many  voices  drove  me  back. 
By  that  curious  texture  of  the  feelings  which  prefers 
suffering  to  suspense,  I  was  almost  glad  to  have  the  ques- 
tion decided  for  me  by  fortune,  and  flung  myself  on  the 
ground  among  a  heap  of  the  undone,  who  lay  enjoying  a 
slumber  that  might  be  envied  by  thrones.  In  another  mo- 
ment, in  burst  a  living  mass  of  horror,  a  multitude  of  be- 
ings in  whom  the  human  face  and  form  were  almost  oblit- 
erated; shapes  gaunt  with  famine,  black  with  dust,  with- 
ered with  deadly  fatigue,  and  covered  with  gashes  and 
gore. 

The  war  had  gone  on  from  cruelty  to  cruelty.  To  the 
Eoman,  the  Jew  was  a  rebel,  and  he  had  a  rebel's  treat- 
ment; to  the  Jew,  the  Eoman  was  a  tyrant,  and  dearly 
was  the  price  of  his  tyranny  exacted.  Quarter  was  sel- 
dom given  on  either  side.  The  natural  generosity  of  the 
son  of  Vespasian  had  attempted,  for  a  while,  to  soften  this 
furious  system.  But  the  slaughter  of  the  mission  exas- 
perated him;  he  declared  the  Jews  a  people  incapable  of 
faith,  and  proclaimed  a  war  of  extermination.  The  bat- 
tle of  the  day  had  furnished  the  first  opportunity  of  sweep- 
ing vengeance.  The  people,  stimulated  by  the  arrival  of 
Onias,  had  made  a  desperate  effort  to  force  the  Eoman 
lines.  The  attacks  were  reiterated  with  more  than  valor — 
with  rage  and  madness;  the  Jews  fought  with  a  disre- 
gard of  life  that  appalled  and  had  nearly  overwhelmed 
even  the  Eoman  steadiness.  The  loss  of  the  legions  was 
formidable;  all  their  chief  officers  were  wounded, 
many  were  killed.  Titus  himself,  leading  a  column 
from  the  Decuman  gate  of  the  camp,  was  wounded  by  a 


396      .  SALATHIEL. 

blow  from  a  sling;  and  the  state  of  its  ramparts,  as  I 
saw  them  at  daybreak,  torn  down  in  immense  breaches, 
and  filling  up  the  ditch  with  their  ruins,  showed  the  im- 
minent hazard  of  the  whole  army.  Another  hour  of  day- 
light would  probably  have  been  its  ruin.  But  Judea  would 
not  have  been  the  more  secure,  for  the  factions,  relieved 
from  the  presence  of  an  enemy,  would  have  torn  each  other 
to  pieces. 

The  loss  of  the  Jews  was  so  prodigious  as  to  be  ac- 
counted for  only  by  their  eagerness  to  throw  away  life. 
Not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  corpses  lay  between  the 
camp  and  Jerusalem.  No  prisoners  were  taken  on  either 
&ide>  and  the  crowds  that  now  approached  were  the  wound- 
ed, gathered  off  the  field,  to  be  crucified  in  memory  of  the 
mission.  The  coming  of  those  victims  put  an  end  to  the 
possibility  or  the  desire  of  sleep.  The  immense  and  gloomy 
hall,  one  of  those  in  use  for  the  stately  banquets  customary 
among  the  leaders  of  Jerusalem,  was  suddenly  a  blaze  of 
torches.  The  malefactors  and  captives  were  thrown  to- 
gether in  heaps,  guarded  by  strong  detachments  of  spear- 
men that  lined  the  sides,  like  ranges  of  iron  statues,  over- 
looking the  mixed  and  moving  confusion  of  wretched  life 
between.  Guilt,  sorrow,  and  shame  were  there  in  their 
dreadful  undisguise.  The  roof  rang  to  oaths  and  screams 
of  pain,  as  the  wounded  tossed  and  rolled  upon  each  oth- 
er; to  bitter  lamentation,  and,  more  bitter  still,  to  those 
self-accusing  outcries  which  the  near  approach  of  violent 
death  sometimes  awakens  in  the  most  daring  criminals. 
For,  stern  as  the  justice  was,  it  still  was  justice;  the  Jew- 
ish character  had  fearfully  changed.  Rapine  and  blood- 
shed had  become  the  habits  of  the  populace;  and  among 
the  panting  and  quivering  wretches  before  me,  begging  a 
moment  of  life,  I  recognized  many  a  face  that,  seen  in 
Jerusalem,  was  the  sign  of  plunder  and  massacre. 

Repulsive  as  my  recollections  were,  I  spent  the  greater 
part  of  the  night  in  bandaging  their  wounds,  and  reliev- 
ing the  thirst  which,  scarcely  less  than  their  wounds,  wrung 
them.  There  were  women  too  among  those  wrecks  of  the 
sword;  and  now  that  the  frenzy  of  the  day  was  past,  they 
exhibited  a  picture  of  the  most  heartbreaking  dejection. 
Lying  on  the  ground,  wounded,  and  with  every  lineament 
of  their  former  selves  disfigured,  they  cried  from  that 


BALATH1EL.  397 

living  grave  alternately  for  vengeance  and  for  mercy. 
Then,  tearing  their  hair,  and  flinging  it,  as  their  last  mark 
of  hatred  and  scorn,  at  the  legionaries,  they  devoted  them 
to  ruin,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Israel.  Then,  passion 
would  give  way  to  pain,  and  in  floods  of  tears  they  called 
on  the  names  of  parent,  husband,  and  child,  whom  they 
were  to  see  no  more ! 

It  was  known  that,  at  daybreak,  the  prisoners  were  to 
die ;  and  the  din  of  hammers,  and  the  creaking  of  waggons 
bearing  the  crosses,  broke  the  night  with  horrid  intima- 
tion. At  length,  the  stillness  terribly  told  that  all  was 
prepared.  The  night,  measured  b}'  moments,  seemed  end- 
less, and  many  a  longing  was  uttered  for  the  dawn,  that 
was  to  put  them  out  of  their  misery.  Yet,  when  the  first 
gray  light  fell  through  the  casements,  and  the  trumpets 
sounded  for  the  escort  to  get  under  arms,  nothing  could 
exceed  the  fury  of  the  crowd.  Some  rushed  upon  the 
spears  of  the  reluctant  soldiery;  some  bounded  in  mad  an- 
tics through  the  hall;  others  fell  on  their  knees,  and  of- 
fered up  horrid  and  shuddering  prayers ;  many  flung  them- 
selves upon  the  floor  and,  in  the  paroxysm  of  wrath  and 
fear,  perished. 

Shocked  and  sickened  by  this  misery,  I  withdrew  from 
the  gate,  where  the  tumult  was  thickest,  as  the  soldiery 
were  already  driving  them  out,  and  returned  to  my  old 
lair,  to  await  the  will  of  fortune.  But  I  found  it  occu- 
pied. A  circle  of  the  wounded  were  standing  round  a 
speaker,  to  whom  they  listened  with  singular  attention. 
The  voice  caught  my  ear;  from  the  crowd  round  him  I 
was  unable  to  observe  his  features ;  but,  once  drawn  within 
the  sound  of  his  words,  I  shared  the  general  interest  in 
their  extraordinary  power.  He  was  a  teacher  of  the  new 
religion. 

In  my  wanderings  through  Judea  I  had  often  met  with 
those  Nazarenes.  Their  doctrines  had  a  vivid  simplicity 
that  might  have  attracted  my  attention  as  a  philosopher; 
but  philosophy  was  cold  to  their  power.  The  splendor  and 
strength  of  their  preaching  realized  the  boldest  tradi- 
tions of  oratory.  Yet  their  triumph  was  not  that  of 
oratory;  they  disclaimed  all  pretension  to  eloquence  or 
learning;  declaring  that,  even  if  they  possessed  them,  they 
dared  not  sully  by  human  instruments  of  success,  the  glory 


398  8ALATHIEL. 

due  to  Heaven.  They  carried  this  self-denial  to  the  singu- 
lar extent  of  divulging  every  circumstance  calculated  to 
deprive  themselves  and  their  doctrines  of  popularity.  They 
openly  acknowledged  that  they  were  of  humble  birth  and 
occupation,  sinners,  like  the  rest  of  mankind,  and,  in  some 
instances,  guilty  of  former  excesses  of  blind  zeal,  perse- 
cutors of  the  new  religion,  even  to  blood.  Of  their  Master 
they  spoke  with  the  same  openness.  They  told  of  his 
humble  origin,  his  career  of  rejection,  and  his  death  by 
the  punishment  of  a  slave.  To  the  scoffer  at  their  hopes 
of  a  kingdom  to  be  given  by  the  sufferer  of  that  igno- 
minious death,  they  unhesitatingly  answered,  that  their 
hope  was  founded  expressly  upon  his  death;  and  that 
they  lived  and  rejoiced  in  the  expectation  that  they  were, 
like  him,  to  seal  their  faith  with  their  blood ! 

I  had  often  seen  enthusiasm  among  my  countrymen; 
but  this  was  a  spirit  of  a  distinct,  and  a  loftier,  birth.  It 
had  the  vigor  of  enthusiasm  without  its  rashness;  the 
gentleness  of  infancy,  with  the  wisdom  of  years;  the  sol- 
emn reverence  of  the  Jew  for  the  Divine  Will,  free  from 
his  jealous  claims  to  the  sole  possession  of  truth.  The 
Law  and  the  Prophets  were  perpetually  in  their  hands ;  and 
they  often  embarrassed  our  haughty  doctors  and  acrid 
Pharisees,  with  questions  and  interpretations  to  which  no 
reply  could  be  returned,  but  a  sneer  or  an  anathema !  But, 
in  the  power  of  conviction,  in  the  master  art  of  striking 
the  heart  and  understanding  with  sudden  light,  like  the 
bolt  from  heaven,  I  never  heard,  I  never  shall  hear,  their 
equals.  To  call  it  eloquence,  were  to  humiliate  this  stu- 
pendous gift:  the  most  practised  skill  of  the  rhetorician 
gave  way  before  it,  like  gossamer,  like  chaff  before  the 
whirlwind.  It  broke  its  way  through  sophistry  by  the 
mere  weight  of  thought.  It  had  a  rapid  reality  that  swept 
the  hearer  along.  In  its  disdain  of  the  mere  decorations 
of  speech,  in  the  bold  and  naked  nerve  of  its  language, 
there  was  an  irresistible  energy — the  energy  of  the  tempest, 
giving  proof,  in  its  untamable  rushings,  of  its  descent 
from  a  region  beyond  the  reach  of  man.  I  never  listened 
to  one  of  these  preachers,  but  with  a  consciousness  that  he 
was  the  depository  of  mighty  knowledge.  He  had  the 
whole  mystery  of  the  human  affections  bare  to  his  eye. 
Among  a  thousand  hearts,  one  word  sent  conviction  at  the 


8ALATHIEL.  399 

game  instant.  All  their  diversities  of  feeling,  sorrow  and 
error  were  shaken  at  once  by  that  universal  language.  It 
talked  to  the  soul! 

Of  these  overwhelming  appeals,  which  often  lasted  for 
hours  together,  and  to  which  I  listened  overwhelmed,  noth- 
ing is  left  to  posterity  but  a  few  fragments,  and  those 
letters  which  the  Christians  still  preserve  among  their  sa- 
cred writings — great  productions,  and  giving  all  the  im-  - 
pression  that  it  is  possible  to  transmit  to  the  future.  But, 
the  living  voice,  the  illumined  countenance,  the  frame 
glowing  and  instinct  with  inspiration ! — what  can  trans- 
mit them?  "Here,"  said  I,  as  I  often  stood,  and  heard 
their  voices  thundering  over  the  multitude,  "here  is  the 
true  power  that  is  to  shake  the  temples  of  heathenism. 
Here  is  a  new  element,  come  to  overthrow,  or  to  renovate 
the  world."  I  saw  our  holy  law  struggling  to  keep  itself 
in  existence,  compressed  on  every  side  by  idolatry ;  a  little 
fountain  feebly  urging  its  way  through  its  native  rocks, 
but  exhausted  and  dried  up  at  the  moment  it  reached  the 
plain.  But  here  was  an  ocean !  an  inexhaustible  depth  and 
breadth  of  power,  made  to  roll  round  the  world,  and  be, 
at  the  will  of  Providence,  the  illimitable  instrument  of  its 
bounty.  I  saw  our  holy  law  feebly  sheltering,  under  its 
despoiled  and  insulted  ordinances,  the  truth  of  Heaven. 
But  here  was  a  religion  scorning  a  narrower  temple  than 
the  earth  and  the  heaven ! 

Yet  I  turned  away  from  those  convictions.  A  thousand 
times  I  was  on  the  point  of  throwing  myself  at  the  feet 
of  the  men  who  bore  this  transcendent  gift,  and  asking, 
"What  shall  I  do?"  A  thousand  times  I  could  have  cried 
out,  "Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian."  But, 
my  doubting  heart !  I  make  no  attempt  to  account  for 
myself  or  my  career — I  have  felt  as  strongly  driven  back 
as  if  there  were  an  actual  hand  forcing  me  away.  The 
illusion  was  a  willing  one,  and  it  was  suffered,  like  all 
such,  to  hold  me  in  its  captivity.  But,  even  when  I 
shrank  away,  I  have  said,  "Whence  had  those  men  this 
knowledge?  If  angels  from  God  were  to  come  down  to 
reclaim  the  world,  could  they  tell  us  things  different,  or 
tell  us  more?" 

I  looked  round  upon  the  labors  of  ancient  wisdom;  and 
I  saw  how  trivial  a  space  its  utmost  vigor  had  cleared, 


400  SALATHIEL. 

and  how  soon  even  that  space  was  overrun  by  the  rank- 
ness  of  the  world;  and  I  said,  "Here  is  the  central  fire, 
the  mighty  reservoir  of  light,  awaiting  but  the  divine  com- 
mand, to  burst  up  in  splendor,  consume  the  impurities  of 
the  world  at  once,  and  regenerate  mankind."  But  the  veil 
was  upon  my  face.  I  labored  against  conviction;  and, 
shutting  out  the  subject  from  my  thoughts,  sternly  deter- 
.  mined  to  live  and  die  in  the  faith  of  my  fathers. 

I  now  heard  but  the  few  and  simple  closing  words  of 
the  speaker  in  this  group  of  the  devoted.  "He  was  sor- 
rowful, that  the  Gospel  had  been  so  long  committed  to  his 
hands  in  vain.  He  had,  through  fear  of  his  own  inad- 
equacy, and  in  remaining  deference  to  the  prejudices  of 
his  people,  suffered  the  truth  to  decay;  and  seen  the  illus- 
trious labors  of  the  apostles,  without  following  their  ex- 
ample. But,"  said  he,  "I  was  rebuked;  the  opportunity 
once  neglected,  was  refused  even  to  my  prayers.  I  was 
thenceforth  in  perils,  in  civil  war,  in  domestic  sedition.  I 
am  but  now  come  from  a  dungeon.  But,  in  my  bonds,  it 
pleased  Him,  in  whose  hand  are  the  heavens,  to  visit  me. 
I  knelt  and  prayed,  acknowledging  my  sin,  and  beseech- 
ing him,  that  before  I  died,  I  might  proclaim  his  truth  be- 
fore Israel.  In  that  hour,  came  a  voice,  bidding  me  go 
forth ;  and  lo !  my  chains  fell  from  my  hands,  and  I  went 
forth.  And  when  I  came  to  the  gates  of  the  dungeon,  I 
willed  to  go  forward  to  the  city  of  David.  But  I  was  for- 
bidden; and  my  steps  were  turned  here,  to  awake  my 
brethren  to  knowledge,  before  they  perish." 

The  trumpets  rang  again,  as  a  new  crowd  were  drained 
off  to  execution.  My  heart  sank  at  the  melancholy  sound ; 
but  among  tke  converts  there  was  not  a  murmur.  "Kneel," 
said  the  preacher ;  "the  hour  is  come !"  They  knelt,  and 
he  poured  out  his  spirit  aloud  in  prayer. 

"Now  go  forth,"  he  said,  rising  alone;  "go  forth,  re- 
deemed of  the  Lord.  This  night  have  ye  known  that  he  is 
gracious.  Those  things  that  God  before  hath  showed  by 
the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets,  that  Christ  should  suffer, 
he  hath  fulfilled.  But  ye  have  heard,  but  ye  have  been 
converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out  when  the 
times  of  refreshing  shall  come.  But  ye  have  been  called — 
but  ye  have  been  justified — but  ye  shall  be  glorified.  Our 
hope  of  you  is  steadfast — knowing  that,  as  you  have  been 


SALAT3IEL.  40l 

partakers  of  his  cross,  so  shall  ye  be  of  his  kingdom.  Now 
be  grace  unto  you,  and  peace  from  the  Kings  of  Kings !" 

He  laid  his  hands  upon  the  kneeling  converts,  and  went 
slowly  round,  blessing  them.  His  face  had  been  hitherto 
turned  from  me,  and  I  was  too  much  impressed  by  his 
words,  and  the  awful  circumstances  in  which  he  stood, 
even  to  conjecture  who  he  was.  At  length,  in  moving 
round,  he  came  before  me.  To  my  inexpressible  surprise 
and  sorrow,  the  teacher  was  Eleazar!  I  had  lost  every 
trace  of  him  since  we  parted  in  the  fortress,  and  with 
sorrow  of  heart  had  concluded  him  a  sacrifice  to  the  com- 
mon atrocities  of  our  ferocious  war.  His  long  absence 
was  now  explained;  but  no  explanation  could  account  for 
the  extraordinary  change  that  had  been  wrought  upon  his 
countenance.  Always  generous  and  manly,  yet  the  soft- 
ness of  a  nature  made  for  domestic  life  had  concealed  the 
vigor  of  his  understanding.  He  was  the  general  reconciler 
in  the  disputes  of  the  neighboring  districts,  the  impartial 
judge,  the  unwearied  friend;  and  his  features  had  borne 
the  stamp  of  this  quiet  career.  But  the  man  before  me 
bore  uncontrollable  energy  in  every  tone  and  feature.  The 
failing  flame  of  the  torch  that  burned  over  his  head  was 
enough  to  show  the  transformation  of  his  countenance 
into  grandeur;  his  glance  was  a  living  fire;  the  hair  that 
floated  over  it,  changed  by  captivity  to  the  whiteness  of 
snow,  shaded  a  forehead  that  seemed  to  have  suddenly 
expanded  into  majesty.  If  I  had  met  such  a  man  in  a 
desert,  I  should  have  augured  in  him  the  founder  or  the 
subverter  of  a  throne. 

While  I  stood  absolutely  awed  by  his  presence,  a  cohort 
of  spearmen  poured  in  to  gather  up  the  gleanings  of  the 
hall.  Then  was  renewed  the  scene  of  misery.  Wretches 
whom  I  had  thought  dead,  started  from  the  ground,  and 
flung  themselves  at  their  feet,  or  rushed  against  the 
ranks,  tore  the  weapons  out  of  their  hands,,  and  broke 
them  in  fury  through  the  hall.  Others  dashed  their  fore- 
heads against  the  walls  and  floor,  and  died  upon  the 
spot.  Others  sprang  up  the  projections  of  the  sculpture, 
and  climbed  with  the  agility  of  leopards  to  the  roof,  to 
force  the  casements.  But  additional  troops  poured  in, 
and  the  crowd  were  overwhelmed,  and  driven  out  to  un- 
dergo their  destiny. 


402  SALATBIEL. 

During  this  long  tumult,  the  Christian  converts  con- 
tinued kneeling,  and  evidently  absorbed  by  thoughts  that 
extinguished  fear.  Even  the  sounds  from  without,  that 
terribly  told  what  was  going  on,  and  every  tone  of  which 
pierced  me  to  the  heart,  produced  only  a  deeper  supplica- 
tion that  light  would  be  given  to  the  souls  of  the  sufferers. 
This  patience  probably  induced  the  soldiery  to  leave  them 
to  the  last,  while  they  drove  out  the  more  untractable  at 
tha  point  of  the  spear,  like  cattle  to  the  slaughter.  I 
still  stood  aloof.  The  sacredness  of  the  moments  that 
came  before  death  were  not  to  be  interrupted.  The  trans- 
formed Eleazar  had  already  passed  away  from  the  things 
of  this  world.  I  would  not  force  them  on  him  again,  nor 
vainly  and  cruelly  disturb  the  holy  serenity  of  one  at  peace 
alike  with  man  and  Heaven. 

At  length  the  order  came.  "Now,  my  beloved  brothers, 
beloved  in  the  Lord,  go  forth,"  said  Eleazar,  with  a  noble 
exultation  glowing  in  his  countenance.  "Quit  ye  like 
men ;  be  strong ;  fear  not  them  who  can  kill  only  the  body. 
Even  this  night  saw  you  still  in  your  sins — the  wisdom 
that  was  before  all  worlds,  hidden  from  you.  But  He 
that  calleth  light  out  of  darkness  hath  wrought  in  you. 
He  hath  poured  upon  you  that  Spirit  which  is  an  earnest 
of  your  inheritance,  holy,  incorruptible,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  Now,  sons  of  Abraham,  redeemed  of  Christ, 
kings  and  priests  of  God  forever;  go,  where  He  is  gone 
to  prepare  a  place  for  you — go  to  the  house  of  many  man- 
sions— go  to  the  kingdom  of  glory!" 

With  tears  and  blessings,  Eleazar  took  water  and  bap- 
tized the  converts.  They  sang  a  hymn,  and  then  rising, 
moved  towards  the  gate,  the  soldiers  standing  at  a  dis- 
tance, and  looking  on  at  this  more  than  heroic  resigna- 
tion, with  eyes  of  respect  and  wonder. 

I  could  restrain  myself  no  longer.  I  grasped  Eleazar; 
he  instantly  recognized  me,  and  the  color  that  shot  through 
his  cheek  showed  that  with  me  came  a  tide  of  memory. 
I  was  speechless:  I  embraced  him;  tears  of  old  friend- 
ship dimmed  my  eyes.  He  was  overpowered,  like  myself, 
and  could  only  exclaim — "Salathiel!  my  brother — what 
misfortune  has  brought  you  here?  Where  is  Miriam — 
where  are  your  children?  You  cannot  be  a  prisoner? 
Fly  from  this  dreadful  place." 


SALATHIEL.  403 

"Never,  my  brother,  unless  I  can  save  you.  The  tyrants 
shall  have  the  curse  of  both  upon  their  heads." 

"This  is  madness,  Salathiel — impiety!  Oh  that  you 
were  this  moment  even  as  I  am ! — in  all  but  death.  It  is 
your  duty  to  live;  you  have  many  ties  to  the  world."  He 
paused ;  and  with  a  look  upwards,  said,  in  a  tone  of  prayer, 
"Oh  that  you  were  at  this  moment  awake  to  the  truths,  the 
holy  and  imperishable  consolations,  that  make  the  cross 
to  me  more  triumphant  than  a  throne !" 

The  theme  was  a  painful  one.  He  instantly  saw  my  per- 
turbation, and  forebore  to  urge  me ;  but  fixing  his  humid 
eyes  on  heaven,  and  with  uplifted  hands,  he  gave  me  his 
parting  benediction.  "May  the  time  come,"  said  he,  "when 
the  veil  shall  be  taken  away  from  the  face  of  my  unhappy 
kindred,  and  of  my  undone  country !  When  the  days  of 
the  desolation  of  Israel  come  to  be  accomplished,  let  her 
kneel  before  the  altar  !  let  her  weep  in  sackcloth,  and  repent 
of  her  iniquities;  so  shall  the  sun  of  glory  arise  upon  her 
once  more."  Then,  as  if  a  flash  of  knowledge  had  darted 
into  his  soul,  he  fixed  his  solemn  gaze  on  me.  "Salathielj 
you  are  not  fit  to  die ;  pray  that  you  may  not  now  sink  into 
the  grave.  You  have  fierce  impulses,  of  whose  power  you 
have  yet  no  conception.  Supplicate  for  length  of  years; 
rather  endure  all  the  miseries  of  exile;  be  alone  upon  the 
earth — weary,  wild,  and  desolate;  but  pray  that  you  may 
not  die  until  you  know  the  truths  that  Israel  yet  shall  know. 
Let  it  be  for  me  to  die,  and  seal  my  faith  by  my  blood. 
Let  it  be  for  you  to  live,  and  seal  it  by  your  penitence. 
But  live  in  hope.  Even  on  earth,  a  day  bright  beyond 
earthly  splendor,  lovely  beyond  all  the  visions  of  beauty, 
magnificent  and  powerful  beyond  the  loftiest  thought  of  hu- 
man nature,  shall  come,  and  we,  even  we,  my  brother,  shall 
on  earth  meet  again." 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

THERE  was  a  thrilling  influence  in  the  words  of  Eleazar 
that  left  me  without  reply,  and  for  awhile  I  stood  ab- 
sorbed. When  I  raised  my  eyes  again,  I  saw  him  following 
the  melancholy  train  down  the  valley  of  slaughter.  I 
rushed  after  him.  He  would  not  listen  to  my  entreaties; 


404  BALATHIEL. 

he  would  suffer  no  ransom  to  be  offered  for  his  life.  I  sup- 
plicated the  tribune  of  the  escort  for  a  moment's  delay, 
until  I  could  solicit  mercy  from  Titus.  The  officer,  him- 
self deeply  pained  by  the  service  on  which  he  was  ordered, 
"had  no  authority/'  but  sent  a  centurion  with  me  to  the 
general  commanding. 

I  hurried  my  guide  through  the  immense  force  drawn 
out  to  witness  the  offering  to  the  shades  of  the  Roman 
senators  and  soldiers.  The  morning  was  stormy,  and  clouds 
covering  the  ridges  of  the  hills,  darkened  the  feeble  dawn 
so  much  that  torches  were  necessary  to  direct  the  move- 
ment of  the  troops.  The  wind  came  howling  through  the 
spears  and  standards;  but  with  it  came  the  fiercer  sounds 
of  human  agony.  As  we  reached  the  entrance  of  the  valley, 
the  centurion  pointed  to  a  height  where  the  general  stood, 
in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  mounted  officers  wrapped  in 
their  cloaks  against  the  snows  that  came  fuiiouslv  whirling 
from  the  hills.  I  darted  up  the  steep  with  a  rapidity  that 
left  my  companion  far  below,  and  implored  the  Roman  hu- 
manity for  my  countrymen,  and  for  my  noble  and  inno- 
cent brother.  On  my  knee,  on  the  knee  that  I  had  never 
before  bowed  to  man,  I  besought  the  muffled  form,  whom  I 
took  for  the  illustrious  son  of  Vespasian,  to  spare  men 
"whose  only  crime  was  that  of  having  defended  their  coun- 
try." I  adjured  the  heir  of  the  empire  "to  rescue  from  an 
ignominious  fate  subjects  driven  into  revolt  only  by  vio- 
lences which  he  would  be  the  first  to  disown."  "If,"  ex- 
claimed I,  "you  demand  money  for  the  lives  of  my  country- 
men, it  shall  be  given  even  to  our  last  ounce  of  silver; 
if  you  would  have  territory,  we  will  give  up  our  lands, 
and  go  forth  exiles.  If  you  must  have  life  for  life,  take 
mine,  and  let  my  brother  go  free !" 

The  form  slowly  removed  the  cloak,  and  Cestius  was 
before  me.  "So,"  said  he,  with  a  malignant  smile,  "you 
can  kneel,  Jew,  and  play  the  rhetorician :  however,  as  you 
are  here,  your  having  escaped  me  once  is  no  reason  why 
you  should  laugh  at  justice  a  second  time.  Here,  Tor- 
quatus,"  he  beckoned  to  a  centurion,  "take  this  rebel  to 
the  crosses,  and  bring  me  an  account  of  the  way  in  which 
he  behaves.  You  see,  Jew,  that  I  have  some  care  of  your 
reputation.  A  fellow  careless  as  you  are  would  probably 
have  died  like  a  slave,  in  a  skirmish;  but  you  sfiall  now 


8ALATHIEL.  405 

figure  before  your  countrymen  as  a  patriot  should,  and  die 
with  the  honors  of  a  native  rebel." 

I  disdained  to  answer.  The  officer  came  up,  attended  by 
his  spearmen;  and  I  was  led  down  the  valley.  A  storm 
of  extraordinary  violence,  long  gathering  on  the  sky,  broke 
forth  as  I  descended,  and  it  was  only  by  grasping  the  rocks 
and  shrubs  on  the  side  of  the  declivity  that  we  could  avoid 
being  blown  away.  We  staggered  along,  blinded,  and  half- 
frozen.  The  storm  fell  heavily  upon  the  legions,  and  the 
heights  were  quickly  abandoned  for  the  shelter  of  the 
valley.  The  valley  itself  was  a  sheet  of  snow,  torn  up  by 
blasts  that  drifted  it  hazardously  upon  the  troops,  and 
threw  everything  into  confusion.  But  the  sight  that 
opened  on  me  as  I  passed  the  first  gorge,  effaced  storm  and 
soldiery,  and  might  have  effaced  the  world,  from  my  mind. 
Through  the  whole  extent  of  the  naked  and  rocky  hollow 
were  planted  crosses.  The  ravine,  dark  even  in  sunshine, 
was  now  black  as  midnight;  and  its  only  light  was  from 
the  scattered  torches,  and  the  fires  into  which  the  bodies  of 
the  victims  were  flung  as  they  died,  to  make  room  for 
others.  On  those  crosses  hung  hundreds,  writhing  in  mis- 
eries made  only  to  show  the  hideous  capability  of  suffering 
that  exists  in  our  frame.  I  was  instantly  recognized,  and 
many  a  hand  was  stretched  out  to  me,  imploring  that  I 
should  mercifully  hasten  death.  I  heard  my  name  called 
on,  as  their  prince,  their  leader,  their  countryman,  to  re- 
member and  revenge !  And  horrow-struck,  I  raved  at  the 
legionaries  and  their  tyrant  master,  until  I  sank  upon  the 
ground  in  exhaustion,  covering  my  head  with  my  mantle, 
that  I  might  exclude  alike  sight  and  sound. 

A  voice  at  my  side  aroused  me;  a  cross  had  just  been 
fixed  on  the  spot,  and  at  its  foot  stood,  preparing  for 
death,  the  man  who  had  spoken.  I  looked  upon  his  face, 
and  gave  an  involuntary  cry.  For  seven-and-thirty  years 
I  had  not  seen  that  face;  but  I  had  seen  it  on  a  night 
never  to  be  erased  from  my  remembrance,  or  my  soul !  I 
knew  every  feature  of  it  though  all  the  changes  of  years ! 

Manhood  had  passed  into  age;  the  bold  and  sanguine 
countenance  was  furrowed  with  cares  and  crimes.  But  I 
knew  at  once  the  man  who  had  on  that  night  been  fore- 
most at  my  call;  the  daring  rabble-leader  who  had  first 
shouted  at  my  fatal  summons;  and  maddened  the  multi- 


406  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

tude,  as  I  had  maddened  myself  and  him.  He  turned  hia 
glance  upon  me  at  the  cry.  His  pale  visage  grew  black 
as  death.  The  past  flashed  upon  his  soul.  He  shook  from 
head  to  foot  with  keen  convulsion.  He  gasped,  and  tried 
to  speak;  but  no  words  came.  He  beat  his  breast  wildly, 
and  pointed  to  the  cross  with  dreadful  meaning.  The 
executioner,  a  brutal  slave,  scoffed  at  him  as  a  dastard.  He 
heard  nothing;  but  with  his  pallid  eyes  staring  on  me,  and 
his  hand  pointed  upwards,  stood  stiffening.  Life  departed 
as  he  stood!  The  executioner,  impatient,  laid  his  grasp 
upon  him ;  but  he  was  beyond  the  power  of  man.  He  fell 
backward,  like  a  pillar  of  stone ! 

I  started  from  the  corpse,  and,  utterly  unnerved,  looked 
wildly  round  for  some  way  of  escape  from  this  scene  of 
despair.  As  I  tried  to  penetrate  the  dusk  towards  the 
bottom  of  the  valley,  Eleazar  was  seen  at  the  head  of  his 
little  band,  standing  at  the  foot  of  a  cross,  surrounded  by 
soldiers.  I  thought  no  more  of  safety,  and  plunging  into 
the  valley,  forced  my  way  through  the  rocks  and  snow- 
drifts, until  I  reached  the  foot  of  the  declivity  on  which  this 
true  hero  was  about  to  die.  But  there  an  impenetrable 
fence  of  spears  stopped  me.  I  implored,  execrated,  strug- 
gled; Eleazar's  eye  fell  on  me;  and  the  smile  on  his  up- 
lifted countenance  showed  at  once  how  much  he  thanked 
me,  and  how  calmly  he  was  prepared  to  bid  the  world  fare- 
well. My  struggles  were  useless,  and  I  had  but  one  resource 
more.  I  flew,  with  a  swiftness  that  baffled  pursuit,  to  the 
camp ;  passed  the  intrenchments  by  the  breaches  left  sirvv 
the  battle;  and,  before  I  could  be  stopped  or  questioned, 
entered  the  tent  of  Titus. 

The  supper  lamps  were  burning,  and  three  stately-look- 
ing men  still  lingered  over  the  table,  one  of  the  few  un- 
popular luxuries  of  the  general.  A  large  packet  of  letters 
was  being  distributed  by  a  page ;  and,  while  I  stood  in  the 
shade  of  a  tent-curtain  a  moment,  until  I  should  ascertain 
whether  Titus  was  among  the  three,  I  was  made  the  un- 
willing sharer  of  the  secrets  of  Eome. 

"All  is  going  on  well,"  said  one  of  the  readers.  "Here 
that  truest  of  courtiers,  my  showy  friend  Statilius,  sends, 
compiled  by  his  own  hand,  an  endless  list  of  the  pomps  and 
processions,  games  and  congratulations,  in  the  emperor's 
progress  through  Italy.  The  intelligence  is  not  the  newest 


8ALATHIEL.  407 

in  the  world ;  but  it  would  break  my  courtly  friend's  heart 
to  think  that  he  had  not  the  happiness  of  giving  it  first. 
So  let  him  think,  and  so  let  him  worship  the  rising  sun, 
until  another  dynasty  comes,  and  he  discovers  that  if  this 
sun  have  risen  in  the  east,  a  much  finer  one  may  rise  in  the 
west.  Thus  runs  the  world." 

"War  with  the  Britions,"  read  another.  "They  have 
marched  a  hundred  of  their  naked  clans  from  the  hills. 
The  remnant  of  the  Druids  are  busy  again  with  their 
incantations;  and  it  is  more  than  suspected  that  the  whole 
is  stirred  up  by  our  incomparable  governor  of  western 
Gaul,  who  affects  the  diadem,  like  all  the  ridiculous  gov- 
ernors of  the  age." 

"Well,  then,  he  shall  have  his  wish,"  said  a  third.  "The 
emperor  will  give  him,  of  course,  a  court  fit  for  a  rebel ; 
his  councils,  lictors;  and  his  palace,  the  Mamertine.  But 
as  to  the  Britons,  I  doubt  their  caring  one  of  their  own 
leather  pence  whether  he  wears  the  diadem  or  the  halter. 
The  savages  have  probably  been  vexed  by  some  new  at- 
tempt to  squeeze  money  from  them — the  quickest  way  to 
try  the  national  sensibilities.  They  have  the  spirit  of  trade 
in  them  already,  and  are  as  keen  in  the  barter  of  their  wolf- 
skins and  bulls'-hides  as  if  they  supplied  the  world  with 
Tyrian  canopies  and  Indian  pearls." 

"A  letter  from  Sempronius!"  was  the  next  topic — "its 
exquisite  intaglio  and  elaborate  perfumes  would  betray  it 
all  the  world  over;  full  of  scandals,  as  usual,  and  full  of 
discontent.  He  seems  quite  dismantled,  and  complains  that 
— the  sex  are  growing  ugly,  the  seasons  comfortless,  and 
mankind  dull;  a  certain  sign  that  my  emptiest  of  friends, 
and  the  best  dresser  in  Italy,  is  growing  old." 

"So  much  the  better  for  his  circle,"  said  another,  sipping 
his  goblet.  "As  for  himself,  while  he  can  flourish  in  curls 
and  calumny,  he  will  be  happy,  the  true  man  of  high  life, 
a  prey  to  tailors,  a  figure  for  actors  to  burlesque,  and  an 
inveterate  weariness  to  the  world." 

"But  here  is  a  private  despatch  from  the  emperor,  and, 
unfortunately  for  human  eyes,  written  in  his  own  most 
unreadable  hand."  The  speaker  stood  up  to  the  lamp,  and 
gave  me  an  opportunity  of  observing  him.  His  countenance 
and  figure  struck  me  as  what  no  other  word  could  express 
than — princely.  The  features  were  handsome,  and  strongly 


408  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

marked  Italian ;  and  the  form,  though  tending  to  breadth, 
and  rather  under  the  usual  stature,  was  eminently  digni- 
fied. His  voice,  too,  was  remarkable.  I  never  heard  one 
that  more  completely  united  softness  and  majesty.  Here  I 
could  have  but  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  I  had  found 
Titus!  yet  I  had  that  shadow.  Our  meeting  in  the  field, 
where  we  had  fought  hand  to  hand,  gave  me  no  recollection 
of  the  man  before  me.  Titus  might  not  even  be  among 
the  three;  and  nothing  but  seizure  and  ruin  could  be  the 
consequence  of  discovering  myself  to  subordinates. 

"Good  news,  it  is  to  be  hoped,"  said  both  the  listeners 
together,  as  they  deferentially  watched  his  perusal. 

"None  whatever;  a  mere  private  chronicle  in  the  em- 
peror's usual  style;  all  kinds  of  oddities  together.  He 
laughs  at  me  for  complaining  of  the  want  of  intelligence 
from  Rome,  and  says  that  unless  we  send  him  some,  the 
politicians  of  the  city  will  die  of  emptiness,  or  raise  a  re- 
bellion !  and  that  he  is  the  most  ill-used  personage  in  the 
empire,  in  being  obliged  to  supply  brains  for  so  many  block- 
heads, and  keep  up  the  reputation  of  an  honest  man,  in  the 
midst  of  so  many  knaves.  But  he  mentions,  and  for  that 
I  am  deeply  grateful,  that  he  has  just  erected  the  golden 
statue  which  I  vowed  so  long  ago  to  the  memory  of  my 
unfortunate  friend  Britannicus;  and  is  about  to  dedicate 
a  bronze  equestrian  one  to  me,  to  be  placed  in  the  Circus. 
He  concludes  the  epistle  with  saying  that,  unless  the  British 
insurrection  speedily  blows  over,  he  shall  be  a  beggar,  and 
must  turn  tribune  for  a  livelihood;  defends  his  impracti- 
cable manuscript,  which,  he  says,  I  am  imitating  as  fast  as 
I  can ;  and  repeats  his  old  jest,  that  if  I  were  not  born  to 
be  a  prince  and  an  idler,  I  might  have  made  by  bread  by 
my  talents  for  forgery."  His  hearers  repaid  the  imperial 
merriment  by  its  full  tribute  of  loyal  laughter. 

Doubt  was  now  at  an  end,  and  I  advanced.  My  stop 
roused  the  party,  and  they  started  up,  drawing  their  swords. 
But  the  quick  eye  of  Titus  recognized  me,  and  satisfying 
his  companions  by  a  gesture,  I  heard  him  pronounce  to 
them:  "My  antagonist,  the  prince  of  Naphtali."  There 
was  no  time  for  ceremony,  and  I  addressed  him  at  once. 

"Son  of  Vespasian,  you  are  a  soldier,  and  know  what  is 
due  to  the  brave.  I  come  to  solicit  your  mercy;  it  is  the 
first  time  that  I  ever  stooped  to  solicit  man.  My  brother, 


8ALATHIEL.  409 

a  chieftain  of  Israel,  is  in  your  hands,  condemned  to  the 
horrid  death  of  the  cross ;  he  is  virtuous,  brave,  and  noble ; 
save  him,  and  you  will  do  an  act  of  justice  more  honorable 
to  your  name  than  the  bloodiest  victory." 

Titus  looked  at  me  in  silence,  and  evidently  perplexed; 
then  returned  to  his  chair,  and  having  consulted  with  his 
companions,  hesitatingly  pronounced:  "Prince,  you  know 
not  what  you  have  asked.  I  am  bound,  like  others,  by  the 
emperor's  commands;  and  they  strictly  are,  that  none  of 
your  countrymen,  taken  after  the  offer  of  peace,  must 
live." 

"Hear  this,  God  of  Israel!"  I  cried.  "King  of  Ven- 
geance, hear  and  remember !" 

"You  are  rash,  prince,"  said  Titus,  gravely;  "yet  I  can 
forgive  your  national  temper.  With  others,  even  your 
venturing  here  might  bring  you  into  hazard.  But  the  per- 
fidy of  your  people  makes  truce  and  treaty  impossible.  They 
leave  me  no  alternative.  I  lament  the  necessity.  It  is  the 
desire  of  the  illustrious  Vespasian  to  reign  in  peace.  But 
this  is  now  at  an  end." 

He  paused,  and  advancing  towards  me,  offered  his  hand, 
with  the  words,  "I  know  that  there  are  brave  and  high- 
minded  men  among  your  nation.  I  have  been  astonished 
at  the  valor,  nay,  I  will  call  it  the  daring  and  heroic  con- 
tempt of  suffering  and  death,  that  this  siege  has  already 
shown.  I  have  been  witness,  too,"  and  he  smiled,  "of  the 
prince  of  Naphtali's  prowess  in  the  field,  and  I  would  most 
willingly  have  such  among  my  friends."  I  waited  for  the 
conclusion.  "Why  not  come  among  us,"  he  said ;  "give  up 
a  resistance  that  must  end  in  ruin;  abandon  a  cause  that 
all  -the  world  sees  to  be  desperate ;  save  yourself  from  popu- 
lar caprice,  the  violence  of  your  rancorous  factions,  and  the 
final  fall  of  your  city  ?  Be  Caesar's  friend,  and  name  what 
possession,  power,  or  rank  you  will." 

The  thought  of  deserting  the  cause  of  Jerusalem  was 
profanation.  I  drew  back,  and  looked  at  the  majestic 
Roman,  as  if  I  saw  the  original  tempter  before  me. 

"Son  of  Vespasian,  I  am  at  this  hour  a  poor  man;  I 
may,  in  the  next,  be  an  exile  or  a  slave.  I  have  ties  to  life 
as  strong  as  ever  were  bound  round  the  heart  of  man;  I 
stand  here  a  suppliant  for  the  life  of  one  whose  loss  would 
embitter  mine!  Yet,  not  for  wealth  unlimited,,  for  the 


410  8ALATHIEL. 

safety  of  my  family,  for  the  life  of  the  noble  victim  that  is 
now  standing  at  the  place  of  torture,  dare  I  abandon,  dare 
I  think  the  impious  thought  of  abandoning  the  cause  of 
the  City  of  Holiness." 

The  picture  of  her  ruin  rose  before  my  eyes,  and  tears 
forced  their  way;  my  strength  was  dissolved;  my  voice 
was  choked.  The  Eomans  fixed  their  looks  on  the  ground, 
affected  by  the  sincerity  of  a  soldier's  sorrow.  I  took  the 
hand  that  was  again  offered. 

"Titus !  in  the  name  of  that  Being,  to  whom  the  wisdom 
of  the  earth  is  folly,  I  adjure  you  to  beware.  Jerusalem  is 
sacred.  Her  crimes  have  often  wrought  her  misery — often 
has  she  been  trampled  by  the  armies  of  the  stranger.  But 
she  is  still  the  City  of  the  Omnipotent ;  and  never  was  blow 
inflicted  on  her  by  man  that  was  not  terribly  repaid.  Hear 
me  a  moment."  He  stood. 

"The  Assyrian  came,  the  mightiest  power  of  the  world; 
he  plundered  her  temple,  and  led  her  people  into  captivity. 
How  long  was  it  before  his  empire  was  a  dream,  his  dynasty 
extinguished  in  blood,  and  an  enemy  on  his  throne  ?  The 
Persian  came;  from  her  protector  he  turned  into  her  op- 
pressor; and  his  empire  was  swept  away  like  the  dust  of 
the  desert !  The  Syrian  smote  her ;  the  smiter  died  in 
agonies  of  remorse;  and  where  is  his  kingdom  now?  The 
Egyptian  smote  her ;  and  who  now  sits  on  the  throne  of  the 
Ptolemies?  Pompey  came;  the  invincible  conqueror  of  a 
thousand  cities;  the  light  of  Eome;  the  lord  of  Asia, 
riding  on  the  very  wings  of  victory.  But  he  profaned  her 
Temple;  and  from  that  hour  he  went  down — down,  like  a 
millstone  plunged  into  the  ocean!  Blind  counsel,  rash 
ambition,  womanish  fears,  were  upon  the  great  statesman 
and  warrior  of  Eome.  Where  does  he  sleep  ?  What  sands 
were  colored  with  his  blood?  The  universal  conqueror 
died  a  slave,  by  the  hand  of  a  slave !  Crassus  came  at  the 
head  of  the  legions ;  he  plundered  the  sacred  vessels  of  the 
sanctuary.  Vengeance  followed  him,  and  he  was  cursed 
by  the  curse  of  God.  Where  are  the  bones  of  the  robber, 
and  his  host?  Go,  tear  them  from  the  jaws  of  the  lion  and 
the  wolf  of  Parthia — their  fitting  tomb ! 

"You,  too,  son  of  Vespasian,  may  be  commissioned  for 
the  punishment  of  a  stiff-necked  and  rebellious  people.  You 
may  scourge  our  naked  vice  by  the  force  of  arms ;  and  then 


8ALATHIEL.  411 

you  may  return  to  your  own  land,  exulting  in  the  con- 
quest of  the  fiercest  enemy  of  Rome.  But  shall  you  escape 
the  common  fate  of  the  instrument  of  evil  ?  Shall  you  see 
a  peaceful  old  age  ?  Shall  a  son  of  yours  ever  sit  upon  the 
throne  ?  Shall  not  rather  some  monster  of  your  blood  efface 
the  memory  of  your  virtues,  and  make  Rome,  in  bitterness 
of  soul,  curse  the  Flavian  name?" 

Titus  grew  pale,  and,  shuddering,  covered  his  eyes  with 
his  mantle.  His  companions  stood  gazing  on  me  with  the 
aspect  of  men  gazing  on  the  messenger  of  fate.  "Spare 
Eleazar,"  was  all  that  I  could  utter.  Titus  made  a  sign  to 
a  tribune,  who  flew  to  bear,  if  not  too  late,  the  command  of 
mercy. 

While  we  continued  in  a  silence  that  none  of  us  felt 
inclined  to  break,  a  door  opened  behind  me,  and  an  officer 
entered.  It  was  Septimius.  I  seized  him  by  the  throat: 
"Villain !  give  me  back  my  child ;  base  hypocrite !  give  up 
my  innocent  daughter.  Where  have  you  taken  her  ?  Lead 
me  to  her,  or  die." 

Titus  rose,  in  evident  surprise  and  indignation.  "What 
do  I  hear,  Septimius?  Have  you  been  guilty  of  this  of- 
fence? Prince,  let  him  loose,  until  his  general  shall  hear 
what  he  has  to  say  for  himself." 

Septimius  affected  the  most  extreme  and  easy  ignorance. 
"Most  noble  Titus,  I  have  to  thank  you  for  having  saved 
my  neck  from  the  grasp  of  this  hasty  personage;  but, 
beyond  that,  I  have  nothing  to  say  for  myself,  or  for  any 
one  else.  I  never  saw  this  man  before.  I  know  no  more 
of  his  daughter  than  of  the  queen  of  Abyssinia,  or  the 
three-formed  Diana;  and,  by  the  goddess,  I  swear  that  I 
believe  him  to  be  perfectly  under  her  influence,  and  either 
a  lunatic  or  a  most  excellent  actor.  Be  honest,  Jew,  if 
you  car^  and  acknowledge  that  you  never  saw  me  before 
in  your  life." 

I  stood  in  astonishment;  his  effrontery  struck  me  dumb. 
"You  perceive,  most  noble  Titus,"  he  went  on,  "how  a 
plain  question  puts  an  end  to  this  public  accuser's  charges. 
But,  in  his  present  state,  whether  affected  or  real,  he  should 
not  be  suffered  to  go  at  large :  suffer  me  to  send  him  to  my 
quarters,  where  he  shall  be  guarded,  until  we  at  least  find 
out  what  brought  him  here." 

"Ingrate/'   I   exclaimed,   "you  make  me   hate  human 


412  SAL  AT  HI  EL. 

nature !  Better  that  I  had  left  you  to  be  trampled  like  the 
viper  that  you  are." 

The  dark  eye  of  the  general,  again  turned  on  Septimius, 
seemed  to  require  a  graver  explanation. 

"Ingrate  I"  retorted  he.  "By  Jupiter,  the  fellow's  inso- 
lence is  superb.  For  what  should  I  be  grateful?  but  for 
my  escape  from  his  detestable  hands.  Very  probably  he 
figured  among  the  rabble  that  would  have  murdered  me  as 
they  did  the  rest  of  us.  Grateful,  yes,  I  ought  to  be,  for 
the  lesson  never  to  venture  within  his  walls  on  the  faith 
of  the  traitors  that  hold  them.  But  let  me  be  allowed  to 
say,  most  noble  Titus,  that  you  condescend  too  much  in 
listening  to  any  of  this  rabble;  nay,  that  you  hazard  the 
safety  of  the  state  in  hazarding  your  person  within  the 
reach  of  one  of  a  race  of  assassins." 

Titus  smiled,  and  waved  back  his  companions,  who,  on 
the  surmise,  were  approaching  him. 

"Let  me  be  honored  with  your  commands,"  urged  Sep- 
timius, "to  take  this  person  in  charge:  felon  or  insane,  I 
shall  speedily  put  him  in  the  way  of  cure." 

A  tribune,  breaathless  with  haste,  came  in  at  the  moment 
with  a  letter,  which  he  gave  to  Titus,  and  retired  to  a  dis- 
tant part  of  the  tent  to  await  the  answer.  The  color  rose 
into  the  Roman's  cheek  as  he  looked  over  the  paper;  he 
showed  it  to  his  companions,  and  then  put  it  into  my 
hand.  I  read  the  words: 

"An  assassin,  hired  by  the  chiefs  of  Jerusalem,  yester- 
day passed  the  gates.  His  object  is  the  life  of  the  Roman 
general.  He  goes,  under  pretence  of  recovering  one  of  his 
family,  supposed  to  be  carried  off  from  the  city,  but  who 
has  never  left  his  house.  He  has  communications  with  the 
camp,  by  which  he  can  enter  at  pleasure,  and  the  noble 
Titus  cannot  be  too  much  on  his  guard." 

The  note  was  in  an  enclosure  from  Cestius,  stating  that 
it  had  been  just  transmitted  to  him  from  a  high  authority 
in  Jerusalem.  I  flung  it  on  the  ground  with  the  scorn  due 
to  such  an  accusation,  declaring  that  it  was  unnecessary 
for  "my  enemy  Cestius  to  have  put  his  name  to  a  document 
which  so  easily  revealed  its  writer." 

"You,  of  course,  Septimius,"  said  the  general,  fixing  his 
penetrating  gaze  on  him,  "could  know  nothing  of  this 
letter," 


BALATHIEL.  413 

Septimius  entered  on  his  defence  with  seriousness;  and 
showed  that,  from  the  time  and  circumstances,  no  share  in 
it  could  be  attached  to  him.  Titus  retired  a  few  steps,  and 
having  consulted  with  the  officers,  who  I  perceived  were 
unanimous  for  my  being  instantly  put  to  death,  addressed 
me  in  that  grave  and  silver-toned  voice  which  character- 
ized the  singular  composure  of  his  nature. 

"We  have  exchanged  blows  and  pledges  of  honor,  prince, 
and  I  will  not  suffer  myself  to  believe  that  a  man  of  your 
rank  and  soldiership  could  stoop  to  the  crime  charged 
here.  In  truth,  were  none  but  personal  considerations  in 
question,  I  should  instantly  set  you  free.  But  there  are 
weighty  interests  connected  with  my  life,  which  make  it 
seem  fitting  to  my  friends  and  advisers  that  in  all  cases 
precautions  should  be  taken,  which  otherwise  I  should  dis- 
dain. To  satisfy  their  minds,  and  the  spirit  of  the  emper- 
or's orders,  I  must  detain  you  for  a  few  days.  Your  treat- 
ment shall  be  honorable." 

Septimius  advanced  again  to  demand  my  custody ;  but  a 
look  repelled  the  request,  and  I  was  directed  to  follow  one 
of  the  secretaries  of  Titus. 


CHAPTER  LX. 

A  TROOP  of  cavalry  were  at  the  tent  door.  We  set  off 
through  the  storm,  and  a  few  miles  from  the  camp  reached 
a  large  building  peopled  with  a  crowd  of  high  functionaries 
attached  to  Titus  as  governor  of  Judea. 

"You  must  be  a  prodigious  favorite  with  the  general," 
said  my  companion  as  we  passed  through  a  range  of 
magnificent  rooms,  furnished  with  Italian  luxury,  "or  he 
would  never  have  sent  you  here.  He  had  these  chambers 
prepared  for  his  own  residence,  but  your  countrymen  have 
kept  him  too  busy,  and  for  the  last  month  he  is  indebted 
to  them  for  sleeping  under  canvas." 

I  observed  that  "peace  was  the  first  wish  of  my  heart; 
but  that  no  people  could  be  reproached  with  contending  too 
boldly  for  freedom." 

"The  sentiment  is  Roman,"  was  the  reply.  "But  let  us 
come  to  the  fact.  Titus,  once  fixed  in  the  government, 
would  be  worth  all  the  fantasies  that  ever  fed  the  de- 


414  8ALATBIEL. 

claimers  on  independence.  His  character  is  peace,  and  if  he 
ever  comes  to  the  empire,  he  will  make  the  first  of  mon- 
archs.  You  should  try  him,  and  reap  the  first  fruits  of 
his  talent  for  making  people  happy.  There;  look  round 
this  room:  you  see  every  panel  hung  with  a  picture,  a 
lyre,  or  a  volume ;  what  does  that  tell  ?" 

"Certainly  not  the  habits  of  a  camp;  yet  he  is  dis- 
tinguished in  the  field/' 

"No  man  more.  There  is  not  a  rider  in  the  legions  who 
can  sit  a  horse  or  throw  a  lance  better.  He  has  the  talents 
of  a  general  besides;  and  more  than  all,  he  has  the  most 
iron  perseverance  that  ever  dwelt  in  man.  If  the  two 
armies  were  to  slaughter  each  other  until  there  was  but 
half  a  dozen  spearmen  left  between  them,  Tftus  would  head 
his  remnant,  and  fight  until  he  died.  But  whether  it  is 
nature,  or  the  poison  that  he  drank  along  with  Britannicus, 
he  wants  the  eternal  vividness  of  his  father.  Ay,  there  was 
the  soldier  for  the  legions.  Look,  prince,  at  this  picture, 
and  tell  me  what  you  think  of  the  countenance." 

He  drew  aside  a  curtain  that  covered  a  superb  portait 
of  the  emperor.  I  saw  a  countenance  of  incomparable 
shrewdness,  eccentricity,  and  self -enjoyment.  Every  fea- 
ture told  the  same  tale,  from  the  rounded  and  dimpled  chin 
to  the  broad  and  deeply-veined  forehead,  overhung  with 
its  rough  mat  of  hair.  The  hooked  nose,  the  deep  wrinkles 
about  the  lips,  the  thick  dark  eyebrow,  obliquely  raised,  as 
if  some  new  jest  was  gathering,  showed  the  pereptual  hu- 
morist. But  the  eye  beneath  that  brow — an  orb  black  as 
charcoal,  with  a  spot  of  intense  brightness  in  the  centre,  as 
if  a  breath  could  turn  that  coal  into  flame — belonged  to  the 
supreme  sagacity  and  determination  that  had  raised  Ves- 
pasian from  a  tent  to  the  throne. 

The  secretary,  whose  jovial  character  stongly  resembled 
that  of  the  object  of  his  panegyric,  could  not  restrain  his 
admiration.  "There,"  said  he,  "is  the  man  who  has  fought 
more  battles,  said  more  good  things,  and  taken  less  physic 
than  any  emperor  that  ever  wore  the  diadem.  I  served 
with  him  from  decurion  up  to  tribune,  and  he  was  always 
the  same,  active,  brave,  and  laughing  from  morn  to  night. 
Old  as  he  is,  day  never  finds  him  in  his  bed.  He  rides, 
swims,  runs,  out-jests  everybody,  and  frowns  at  nothing  on 
earth  but  an  old  woman  and  a  physician.  He  loves  money, 


SALATHIEL.  415 

'tis  true;  yet  what  he  squeezes  from  the  overgrown,  he 
scatters  like  a  prince.  But  his  mirth  is  inexhaustible;  a 
little  rough,  so  much  for  his  camp  education ;  but  the  most 
curious  mixture  of  justice,  spleen,  and  pleasantry  in  the 
world."  My  companion's  memory  teemed  with  examples. 

"An  Alexandrian  governor  was  ordered  to  Rome,  to  ac- 
count for  a  long  course  of  extortion;  immediately  on  his 
arrival  he  pretended  to  be  taken  violently  ill,  which  of 
course  put  off  the  inquiry.  The  emperor  heard  of  this,  ex- 
pressed the  greatest  interest  in  so  meritorious  a  public  serv- 
ant, paid  him  a  visit  the  next  day  in  his  bed,  ordered  him 
a  variety  of  medicines,  which  the  unfortunate  governor  was 
compelled  to  take,  renewed  his  visit  regularly  every  day. 
and  every  day  charged  him  an  enormous  fee !  Beggary 
stared  the  governor  in  the  face,  and  never  was  a  complica- 
tion of  disorders  so  rapidly  cured ! 

— "I  was  riding  out  in  his  attendance  one  day,  a  few 
miles  from  Rome,  when  we  saw  a  fellow  beating  his  mule 
cruelly;  and,  on  being  called  to,  insisting  on  his  right  to 
torture  the  animal.  I  was  indignant,  and  would  have 
fought  the  mule's  quarrel.  But  the  emperor  laughed  at  my 
zeal,  and  after  some  jesting  with  the  brutal  owner,  bought 
the  mule,  only  annexing  the  condition  that  the  fellow 
should  lead  it  to  the  stable.  He  actually  sent  him  with  the 
mule  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  on  foot,  to  one  of  his 
palaces  in  Gaul,  and  with  a  lictor  after  him,  to  see  that  the 
contract  was  fairly  performed. 

— "One  of  his  chamberlains  had  been  soliciting  a  place 
about  court  for,  as  he  said,  his  brother.  The  emperor  found 
out  the  fact  that  it  was  for  a  stranger,  who  was  to  lay 
down  a  large  sum.  He  sent  for  the  stranger,  ratified  the 
bargain,  gave  him  the  place,  and  put  the  money  in  his  own 
pocket.  The  chamberlain  was  in  great  alarm  on  meeting 
the  emperor  some  days  after.  'Your  dejection  is  natural 
enough,'  said  Vespasian,  'as  you  have  so  lately  lost  your 
brother;  but  then  you  should  wish  me  joy,  for  he  has  be- 
come mine !' 

"By  the  altar  of  Momus,  and  the  brass  beard  of  the  god 
Ridiculus,  I  could  tell  you  a  hundred  things  of  the  same 
kind,"  said  the  jovial  and  inexhaustible  secretary.  "Take 
but  one  more. 

— "One  of  our  great  patricians,  an  yEmilian,  and  as  vain 


416  SALATHIEL. 

and  insolent  a  beast  as  lives,  had  ordered  a  quantity  of  a 
particularly  striped  cloth,  which  it  cost  the  merchant  in- 
finite pains  to  procure.  But  the  great  man's  taste  had 
altered  in  the  meantime,  and  he  returned  the  cloth  without 
ceremony;  threatening  besides,  that  if  the  merchant  made 
any  clamors  on  the  subject,  his  payment  should  be  six 
months'  work  in  the  slave-mill.  The  man,  on  the  verge  of 
ruin,  came  tearing  his  hair  and  bursting  with  rage  to  lay 
his  complaint  before  the  emperor,  who,  however,  plainly 
told  him  that  there  was  no  remedy,  but  desired  him  to 
send  a  dress  of  the  same  cloth  to  the  palace.  Within  the 
week,  the  patrician  was  honored  with  a  message  that  the 
emperor  would  dine  with  him,  and  the  message  was  ac- 
companied with  the  dress,  and  an  intimation  that  Ves- 
pasian wished  to  make  it  popular.  Rome  was  instantly 
ransacked  for  the  cloth,  but  not  a  yard  of  it  was  to  be 
found,  but  in  the  merchant's  hands.  The  patrician's 
household  must  be  equipped  in  it,  cost  what  it  would.  The 
dealer,  in  pleasant  revenge,  charged  ten  times  the  value, 
and  his  fortune  was  made  in  a  day. 

"Now,  Titus,  with  many  a  noble  quality,  is  altogether 
another  man.  He  abhors  the  emperor's  rough-hewn  jocu- 
larity; he  speaks  Greek  better  than  the  emperor  does  his 
own  tongue;  is  a  poet,  and  a  clever  one  besides,  in  both 
languages;  extemporizes  verse  with  elegance;  is  no  mean 
performer  on  the  lyre;  sings;  is  a  picture-lover,  and  so 
forth.  I  believe  from  my  soul  that,  with  all  his  talents  for 
war  and  government,  he  would  rather  spend  his  day  over 
books,  and  his  evenings  among  poets  and  philosophers,  or 
telling  Italian  tales  to  the  ears  of  some  of  your  brilliant 
orientals,  than  ride  over  the  world  at  the  head  of  the 
legions.  And  now,"  said  my  open-hearted  guide,  "having 
betrayed  court  secrets  enough  for  one  day,  I  must  leave 
you,  and  return  to  the  camp.  Here  you  will  spend  your 
time  as  you  please,  until  some  decision  is  come  to.  The 
household  is  at  your  service,  and  the  officer  in  command 
will  attend  your  orders — farewell !" 

Captivity  is  wretchedness,  even  if  the  captive  trod  on 
cloth  of  gold.  My  treatment  was  imperial ;  a  banquet  that 
might  have  feasted  a  Roman  epicure  was  laid  before  me; 
a  crowd  of  attendants,  sumptuously  habited,  waited  round 
the  table;  music  played,  perfumes  burned,  and  the  whole 


SALATHIEL.  417 

ceremonial  of  princely  luxury  was  gone  through,  as  if 
Titus  were  present,  instead  of  his  heart-broken  prisoner. 
But  to  that  prisoner,  bread  and  water,  with  freedom,  would 
have  been  the  truer  luxury. 

I  wandered  through  the  spacious  apartments,  dazzled  by 
their  splendor,  and  often  ready  to  ask,  "Can  man  be  un- 
happy in  the  midst  of  these  things?"  yet  answering  the 
question  in  the  pang  of  heart  which  they  were  so  powerless 
to  soothe.  I  took  down  the  richly-blazoned  volumes  of  the 
Western  poets,  and  while,  at  every  line  that  I  unrolled,  I 
felt  how  much  richer  were  their  contents  than  the  gold  and 
gems  that  incased  them,  I  yet  felt  the  inadequacy  of  even 
their  beauty  and  vigor  to  console  the  spirit  stricken  by  real 
calamity.  I  strayed  to  the  crystal  casements,  through 
which  the  sun  of  spring  had  begun,  to  pour  in  a  tide  of 
glory.  The  landscape  was  beautiful — a  peaceful  valley, 
shut  in  with  lofty  eminences,  on  whose  marble  foreheads 
the  sunbeams  wrought  coronets,  as  colored  and  glittering 
as  ever  were  set  with  chrysolite  and  ruby.  The  snow  was 
gone  as  rapidly  as  it  had  come;  and  the  green  earth,  in 
the  freshness  of  the  bright  hour,  might  almost  be  said 
"to  laugh  and  sing."  The  air  came,  fanning  and  warm 
from  the  reviving  flowers.  There  was  a  light  and  joyous 
beauty  in  even  the  waving  of  the  shrubs,  as  they  shook  off 
the  moisture  in  sparkles  at  every  wave;  birds  innumerable 
broke  out  into  song,  and  fluttered  their  little  wet  wings 
with  delight  in  the  sunshine ;  and  the  rivulet,  still  swell t d 
with  the  snows,  ran  dimpling  and  gurgling  along,  with  a 
music  of  its  own. 

But  the  true  sadness  of  the  soul  is  not  to  be  scattered 
even  by  the  loveliness  of  external  things.  I  turned  from 
the  sun  and  nature,  to  fling  myself  on  my  couch,  and  feel 
that  where  a  man's  treasure  is  there  his  heart  is  also. 

"What  might  not,  in  those  hours,  be  doing  in  Jerusalem  ? 
What  fanatic  violence,  personal  revenge,  or  public  license 
might  not  be  let  loose  while  I  was  lingering  among  the 
costly  vanities  of  the  pagan?  My  enemy,  at  least,  was 
there,  in  the  possession  of  unbridled  authority;"  and  the 
thought  was  in  itself  9,  history  of  evil.  "And  where  was 
Esther,  my  beloved,  the  child  of  my  soul,  the  glowing  and 
magnificent-minded  being,  whose  beauty  and  whose 
thoughts  were  scarcely  mortal?  Might  she  not  be  in  the 


418  8ALATHIEL. 

last  extremity  of  suffering,  upbraiding  me  for  having  for- 
gotten my  child;  or  in  the  hands  of  robbers,  dragging  her 
delicate  form  through  rocks  and  sands;  or  dying,  without 
a  hand  to  succor,  or  a  voice  to  cheer  her,  in  the  hour  of 
•agony?" 

Thought  annihilates  time,  and  I  had  lain  one  day  thus 
sinking  from  depth  to  depth,  I  know  not  how  long,  until  I 
was  roused  by  the  entrance  of  the  usual  endless  train  of 
attendants ;  and  the  chief  steward,  a  venerable  man  of  my 
country,  whom  Titus  had  generously  continued  in  the  office 
where  he  found  him,  came  to  acquaint  me  that  the  banquet 
awaited  my  pleasure.  The  old  man  wept  at  the  sight  of 
a  chieftain  of  Israel  in  captivity;  his  heart  was  full,  and 
when  I  had  dismissed  the  attendants  with  their  untasted 
banquet,  he  gave  way  to  his  recollections. 

The  palace  was  once  the  dwelling  of  Ananus,  the  high- 
priest,  whose  death  under  the  cruelest  circumstances  was 
the  leading  triumph  of  the  factions,  and  the  ruin  of  Jeru- 
salem. In  the  very  chamber  where  I  sat,  he  had  spent 
the  last  day  of  his  life ;  and  left  it  only  to  take  charge  of 
the  Temple,  on  the  fatal  night  of  the  assault  by  the  Idu- 
means.  He  was  wise  and  vigorous;  but  what  is  the  wis- 
dom of  man?  A  storm,  memorable  in  the  annals  of  dev- 
astation, had  raged  during  the  night.  Ananus,  convinced 
that  all  was  safe  from  human  hostility  in  this  ravage  of 
the  elements,  suffered  the  wearied  citizens  to  retire  from 
their  posts.  The  gates  were  opened  by  traitors;  the  Idu- 
means,  furious  for  blood  and  spoil,  rushed  in;  the  guard, 
surprised  in  their  sleep,  were  massacred;  and  by  daylight 
eight  thousand  corpses  lay  on  the  sacred  pavements  of  the 
Temple;  and  among  them  the  noblest  and  wisest  man  of 
Judea,  Ananus. 

"I  found,"  said  the  old  man,  "the  body  of  my  great  and 
good  lord  under  a  heap  of  dead,  but  was  not  suffered  to 
convey  it  to  the  tomb  of  his  fathers,  in  the  Valley  of 
Jehoshaphat.  I  brought  his  sword  and  his  phylactery  here, 
and  they  are  now  the  only  memories  of  the  noblest  line 
that  perished  since  the  Maccabee.  In  these  chambers  I 
have  remained  since,  and  in  them  it  is  my  hope  to  die.  The 
palace  is  large;  the  Roman  senators  and  officers  reside  in 
another  wing,  which  I  have  not  entered  for  years,  and  shall 
never  enter ;  mild  masters  as  the  Romans  have  been  to  me, 


I  cannot  bear  to  see  them  masters,  within  the  walls  of  a 
chief  of  my  country." 

The  story  of  Naomi  occurred  to  me ;  but  she  was  so  much 
beyond  my  hope  of  discovery  that  I  forbore  to  renew  the 
old  man's  griefs  by  her  name.  A  sound  of  trumpets  and 
the  trampling  of  cavalry  was  now  heard  from  the  portal. 

"It  is  but  the  nightly  changing  of  the  troops,"  said  the 
steward,  "or  perhaps  the  arrival  of  officers  from  the  camp ; 
they  often  ride  here  after  nightfall  to  supper,  spend  a  few 
hours,  and  by  daybreak  are  gone.  But  of  them  and  their 
proceedings  I  know  nothing.  No  Jew  enters,  or  desires  to 
enter,  the  banquet-hall  of  the  enemies  of  his  country." 

A  knocking  at  the  door  interrupted  him,  and  an  officer 
appeared,  with  an  order  for  the  prisoner  in  the  palace  to  be 
removed  into  strict  confinement.  The  venerable  steward 
gave  way  to  tears  at  the  new  offence  to  a  leader  of  his 
people.  I  felt  some  surprise,  but  merely  asked  what  new 
alarm  had  demanded  this  harsh  measure. 

"I  know  no  more,"  replied  the  officer,  "than  that  the 
general  has  arrived  here  a  few  minutes  since ;  and  that,  as 
some  attempts  have  been  lately  made  on  his  life,  the 
council  have  thought  proper  to  put  the  Jewish  poniards  as 
much  out  of  his  way  as  they  can.  The  order  is  universal; 
and  I  am  directed  to  lead  you  to  your  apartment." 

"Then  let  them  look  to  my  escape,"  said  I.  "I  thank 
the  council  for  this  service.  While  I  continued  above  sus- 
picion, they  might  have  thrown  open  every  door  in  their 
dungeons.  But  since  they  thus  degrade  me,  you  may  tell 
them  that  their  walls  should  be  high,  and  the  bolts 
strong,  to  keep  me  their  prisoner.  Lead  on,  sir." 

The  council  seemed  to  have  been  aware  of  my  opinion, 
for  my  new  chamber  was  in  one  of  the  turrets.  The  lower 
floor  being  occupied  by  the  guard,  there  could  be  no  under- 
mining; the  smallness  of  the  building  laid  all  the  oper- 
ations of  the  fugitive  open  to  the  sentinel's  eye;  and  the 
height  was,  of  itself,  an  obstacle  that,  even  if  the  bars  were 
forced,  might  daunt  the  adventurer.  The  steward  fol- 
lowed me  to  my  den,  wringing  his  hands.  Yet  the  little 
apartment  was  not  incommodious ;  there  were  some  obvious 
attempts  at  rendering  it  a  fitter  place  of  habitation  than 
usual;  and  a  more  delicate  frame  than  mine  might  have 
found  indulgence  in  its  carpets  and  cushions.  Even  my 


420  SALAT31EL. 

solitary  hours  were  not  forgotten,  and  some  handsome  vol- 
umes from  the  governor's  library  occupied  a  corner.  There 
was  a  lyre  too,  if  I  chose  to  sing  my  sorrows ;  and  a  gilded 
chest  of  wine,  if  I  chose  to  drink  them  away.  The  height 
was  an  inconvenience  only  to  my  escape,  but  a  lover  of 
landscape  and  fresh  air  would  have  envied  me;  for  I  had 
the  range  of  the  horizon  and  the  benefit  of  every  breeze 
from  its  four  quarters.  A  Chaldee  would  have  chosen  it  for 
his  commerce  with  the  lights  of  heaven;  for  every  star, 
from  the  gorgeous  front  of  Aldebaran  to  the  minutest  dia- 
mond spark  of  the  sky,  shone  there  in  all  its  brightness. 
And  a  philosopher  would  have  rejoiced  in  the  secluded  com- 
fort of  a  spot,  which  in  the  officer's  parting  pleasantry, 
was  in  every  sense  "so  much  above  the  world." 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

To  me  the  prison  and  the  palace  were  the  same.  No  be- 
liever in  fate,  and  a  strong  believer  in  the  doctrine  that,  in 
the  infinite  majority  of  cases,  the  unlucky  have  to  thank 
only  themselves,  I  was  yet  irresistibly  conscious  of  my  own 
stern  exception.  That  there  was  an  influence  hanging  over 
me,  I  deeply  knew;  that  I  might  as  well  strive  with  the 
winds,  was  the  fruit  of  my  whole  experience ;  and  with  the 
loftiest  calculation  of  the  wonders  that  human  energy  may 
work,  I  abandoned  myself,  on  principle,  to  the  chances  of 
the  hour.  I  was  the  weed  upon  the  wave;  and,  whether 
above  or  below  the  surface,  I  knew  that  the  wave  would 
roll  on,  and  that  I  must  roll  on  along  with  it.  I  was  the 
atom  in  the  air ;  and  whether  I  should  float  unseen  forever, 
or  be  brought  into  sight  by  the  gilding  of  some  chance  sun- 
beam, my  destiny  was  to  float  and  quiver  up  and  down.  I 
was  the  vapor,  and  whether,  like  the  evening  cloud,  my 
after-years  were  to  evolve  into  glorious  shapes  and  colors, 
or  I  should  creep  along  the  pools  and  valleys  of  fortune 
till  the  end  of  time — yet,  there  I  was  still  in  existence,  and 
that  existence  bound  by  laws  incapable  of  the  choice  or 
the  caprices  of  man. 

I  had  yet  to  learn  the  true  burden  of  my  great  maledic- 
tion; for  the  circumstances  of  my  life  were  adverse  to  its 
fated  solitude  of  soul;  its  bitter  conviction  that  there  was 


SALATHIEL. 

not  a  being  under  the  canopy  of  heaven  whose  heart  was 
towards  me.  I  Avas  still  in  the  very  tumult  of  life,  and 
battling  it  with  the  boldest.  Public  cares,  personal  inter- 
ests, glowing  attachments,  the  whole  vigorous  activity  of 
the  citizen  and  the  soldier,  were  mine.  I  was  still  husband, 
father,  friend,  and  champion;  my  task  was  difficult  and 
grave,  but  it  was  ardent,  proud,  and  animating.  I  was 
made  for  this  energy  of  the  whole  man ;  master  of  a  power- 
ful frame,  that  defied  fatigue,  and  was  proof  against  the 
sharpest  visitations  of  nature;  and  of  an  intellect,  which, 
whatever  might  be  its  rank,  rejoiced  in  tasking  itself  with 
labors  that  appalled  the  multitude. 

Idle  as  I  knew  the  praise  of  man,  and  sovereign  as  was 
my  scorn  for  the  meanness  which  stoops  to  the  vulgar  pur- 
chase of  popularity,  I  felt  and  honored  the  true  fame — 
that  renown  whose  statue  is  devoted,  not  by  the  suspicious 
and  clamorous  flattery  of  the  time,  but  by  the  solemn  and 
voluntary  homage  of  the  future;  whose  splendor,  like  that 
of  a  new-born  star,  if  it  take  ages  to  reach  mankind,  is  sure 
to  reach  them  at  last,  and  shines  for  ages  after  its  fount  is 
extinguished;  whose  essential  power,  if  it  be  coerced  and 
obscured,  like  that  of  man  while  his  earthly  tenement  still 
shuts  him  in,  is  thenceforth  to  develop  itself  from  strength 
to  strength — the  mortal  putting  on  immortality. 

In  the  whirl  of  such  thoughts,  I  was  often  carried  away, 
to  the  utter  oblivion  of  my  peculiar  fate ;  for  man  and  his 
associations  were  strong  within  me,  in  defiance  of  the  com- 
mand. The  gloom  often  passed  away  from  my  soul,  as  the 
darkness  does  from  the  midnight  ocean  in  the  dash  and 
foam  of  its  own  waters.  Nature  is  perpetual,  and  drives 
the  affections,  sleeping  or  waking,  as  it  drives  the  blood, 
through  the  old  channels.  It  was  only  at  periods,  produced 
by  strong  circumstance,  that  I  felt  the  fetter;  but  then,  the 
iron  entered  into  my  soul !  To  this  partial  pressure  belongs 
the  singular  combination  of  such  a  fate  as  mine  with  an  in- 
terest in  the  world,  with  my  loves  and  hates,  my  thirst  of 
human  fame,  my  reluctance  at  the  prospect  of  the  common 
ills  and  injuries  of  life.  I  was  a  man ;  and  this  is  the  whole 
solution  of  the  problem.  For  one  remote  evidence  that  I 
was  distinct  from  mankind,  I  had  ten  thousand,  direct  and 
constant,  that  I  was  the  same.  But,  for  the  partiality  of 
the  pressure,  there  was  a  lofty  reason.  The  man  who  feels 


422  SALATHIEL. 

himself  above  the  common  fate,  is  instantly  placed  above 
the  common  defences  of  mankind.  He  may  calumniate 
and  ruin;  he  may  burn  and  plunder;  he  may  be  the  rebel 
and  the  murderer.  Fear  is,  after  all,  the  great  defence. 
But  what  earthly  power  could  intimidate  him?  What 
were  chains,  or  the  scaffold,  to  him  who  felt  instinctively 
that  time  was  not  made  for  his  being;  that  the  scaffold  was 
impotent;  that  he  should  yet  trample  on  the  grave  of  his 
judge;  on  the  mouldered  throne  of  his  king;  on  the  dead 
sovereignty  of  his  nation?  With  his  impassiveness,  his 
experience,  his  knowledge,  and  his  passions,  concocted  and 
blackened  by  ages,  what  breast  could  be  safe  against  the 
dagger  of  this  tremendous  exile?  what  power  be  secure 
against  the  rebel  machination  or  the  open  hostility  of  a 
being  invested  with  the  strength  of  immortal  evil?  What 
was  to  hinder  a  man  made  familiar  with  every  mode  of  in- 
fluencing human  passions — the  sage,  the  sorcerer,  the  fount 
of.  tradition,  the  friend  of  their  worshipped  ancestors — 
from  maddening  the  multitude  at  whose  head  he  willed  to 
march,  clothed  in  the  attributes  of  almost  a  divinity  ?  But 
I  was  precluded,  or  saved,  from  this  fearful  career,  by  the 
providential  feeling  of  the  common  repugnances,  hopes, 
and  fears  of  human  nature.  Pain  and  disease  were  instinct- 
ively as  much  shunned  by  me,  as  if  I  held  my  life  on  the 
frailest  tenure;  death  was  as  formidable  as  my  natural 
soldiership  would  suffer  it  to  be ;  and  even  when  the  thought 
occurred  that  I  might  defy  extinction,  it  threw  but  a  darker 
shade  over  the  common  terrors,  to  conceive  that  I  must 
undergo  the  suffering  of  death,  without  the  peace  of  the 
grave.  Man  bears  his  agony  for  once,  and  it  is  done.  Mine 
might  be  borne  to  the  bitterest  extremity,  but  must  be 
borne  with  the  keener  bitterness  of  the  knowledge  that  it 
was  in  vain. 

I  was  recalled  from  those  reveries  to  the  world,  by  a  paper 
dropped  through  a  crevice  in  the  rafters  above  my  head. 
On  seeing  its  signature,  "Septimius,"  my  first  impulse  was 
to  tear  it  in  pieces;  but  Esther's  name  struck  me,  and  I 
read  it  through. 

"You  must  not  think  me  a  villain,  though,  I  confess, 
appearances  are  much  in  favor  of  the  supposition.  But  I 
had  no  choice  between  denying  that  I  knew  you  and  being 
instantly  beheaded.  This  comes  of  discipline.  Titus  is  a 


8A.LATHIEL.  423 

disciplinarian  of  the  first  order;  and  the  consequence  is, 
that  no  man  dares  acknowledge  any  little  irregularity  before 
him:  so  far,  his  morality  propagates  knaves.  But  I  must 
clear  myself  of  the  charge  of  having  acted  disingenuously 
by  your  admirable  daughter.  I  take  every  power  that  binds 
the  soul  to  witness,  that  I  know  not  what  is  become  of  her ; 
nay,  I  am  in  the  deepest  anxiety  to  know  the  fate  of  one  so 
lovely,  so  innocent,  and  so  high-minded. 

"And  now,  prince,  that  I  am  out  of  the  reach  of  your 
frown,  let  me  have  courage  to  disburden  my  heart.  I  have 
long  known  Esther,  and  as  long  loved  her.  From  the  time 
when  I  was  first  received  within  your  palace  in  Naphtali — 
and  I  have  not  forgotten  that  to  your  hospitality  I  then 
owed  my  life — I  was  struck  with  her  talents  and  her  beaut}r. 
When  the  war  separated  us,  and  I  returned  to  Home, 
neither  in  Eome,  nor  in  the  empire,  could  I  see  her  equal. 
To  solicit  our  union,  I  gave  up  the  honors  and  pleasures  of 
the  court  for  the  campaign  in  your  hazardous  country.  I 
searched  Judea  in  vain ;  and  it  was  chiefly  in  the  vague  hope 
of  obtaining  some  intelligence  of  Esther  that  I  solicited  the 
command  of  our  unfortunate  mission.  There,  I  felt  all 
hazard  more  than  repaid  by  her  sight,  to  me  lovelier  than 
ever.  I  will  acknowledge  that  I  prolonged  my  confinement, 
to  have  the  opportunity  of  obtaining  her  hand.  But  her 
religious  scruples  were  unconquerable.  I  implored  her 
leave  to  explain  myself  to  you.  Even  this,  too,  she  refused, 
'from  her  knowledge  of  your  decision.'  What  then  was  I 
to  do?  Loving  to  excess,  bewildered  by  passion,  oppressed 
with  disappointment,  and  seeing  but  one  object  on  earth, 
my  evil  genius  prompted  me  to  act  the  dissembler. 

"Under  pretext  of  disclosing  some  secrets  connected  with 
your  safety,  I  induced  her  to  meet  me,  for  the  first  and  the 
last  time,  on  the  battlements.  There  I  besought  her  to  fly 
with  me — to  be  my  bride — to  enjoy  the  illustrious  rank  and 
life  that  belonged  to  the  imperial  blood;  and,  when  we 
were  once  wedded,  to  solicit  the  approval  of  her  family. 
I  was  sincere;  I  take  the  gods  to  witness,  I  was  sincere. 
But  my  entreaty  was  in  vain ;  she  repelled  me  with  resolute 
scorn;  she  charged  me  with  treachery  to  you,  to  her,  to 
faith,  and  sacred  hospitality.  I  knelt  to  her ; — she  spurned 
me.  In  distraction,  and  knowing  only  that  to  live  without 
her  was  wretchedness,  I  was  bearing  her  away  to  the  gate, 


424  8ALATHIEL. 

when  we  were  surrounded  by  armed  men.  My  single  at- 
tendant fled:  I  was  overpowered,  and  I  saw  Esther,  my 
lovely  and  beloved  Esther,  no  more." 

There  was  an  honesty  in  this  full  confession,  that  did 
more  for  the  writer's  cause  than  subtler  language.  The 
young  Koman  had  been  severely  tried;  and  who  could  ex- 
pect from  a  soldier  the  self-denial,  that  it  might  have  been 
hard  to  find  under  the  brow  of  philosophy  ?  Stern  as  time 
and  trial  had  made  ine,  I  was  not  petrified  into  a  contempt 
of  the  generous  weaknesses  of  earlier  years;  and  to  love  a 
being  like  Esther — what  was  it  but  to  be  just?  while  I 
honored  the  high  sense  of  duty  which  repelled  a  lover  so 
dangerous  to  a  woman's  heart,  I  pitied  and  forgave  the 
violence  of  a  passion,  lighted  by  unrivalled  loveliness  of 
form  and  mind. 

It  was  growing  late ;  and  the  steward,  who  made  a  virtue 
of  showing  me  the  more  respect  the  more  I  was  treated 
with  severity,  came  in,  to  arrange  my  couch  for  the  night ; 
"he  would  suffer  no  inferior  hands  to  approach  the  person 
of  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  fallen  country.  In  truth," 
added  he,  "if  I  were  not  permitted  to  be  your  attendant  to- 
night, my  prince  might  have  been  forgotten,  for  every  hu- 
man being  but  myself  is  busy  in  the  banquet-gallery." 

Sounds  of  instruments  and  voices  arose.  "There,"  said 
he,  "you  may  hear  the  music.  Titus  gives  a  supper  in 
honor  of  the  emperor's  birthday,  and  the  palace  will  be 
kept  awake  until  daylight;  for  the  Romans,  with  all  their 
gravity,  are  great  lovers  of  the  table;  and  Titus  is  re- 
nowned for  late  sittings.  Or,  would  you  wish  to  see  the 
banquet?"  So  saying,  he  unbarred  the  shutters  of  a  case- 
ment, commanding  a  view  along  the  gallery;  of  which 
every  door  and  window  was  thrown  open  for  the  breeze. 

If  an  ancient  Eoman  could  start  from  his  slumber  into 
the  midst  of  European  life,  he  must  look  with  scorn  on  its 
absence  of  grace,  elegance  and  fancy.  But  it  is  in  its  fes- 
tivities, and,  most  of  all,  in  its  banquets,  that  he  would  feel 
the  incurable  barbarism  of  the  Gothic  blood.  Contrasted 
with  the  fine  displays,  which  made  the  table  of  the  Eoman 
noble  a  picture,  and  threw  over  the  indulgence  of  appetite 
the  colors  of  the  imagination,  with  what  eyes  must  he 
contemplate  the  tasteless  and  commonplace  dress,  the 
coarse  attendants,  the  meagre  ornament,  the  want  of  mirth, 


8ALATHIEL.  425 

music  and  intellectual  interest — the  whole  heavy  ma- 
chinery, that  converts  the  feast  into  the  mere  drudgery  of 
devouring ! 

The  guests  before  me  were  fifty  or  sixty  splendidly-attired 
men,  attended  by  a  crowd  of  domestics  equipped  with 
scarcely  less  splendor;  for  no  man  thought  of  coming  to 
the  banquet  in  the  robes  of  ordinary  life.  The  embroidered 
couch,  itself  a  striking  object,  allowed  the  ease  of  position, 
at  once  delightful  in  the  relaxing  climates  of  the  south,  and 
capable  of  combining  with  every  grace  of  the  human  figure. 
At  a  slight  distance,  the  table,  loaded  with  plate,  glittering 
under  a  profusion  of  lamps,  and  surrounded  by  couches 
covered  with  rich  draperies,  was  like  a  central  source  of 
light  radiating  in  broad  shafts  of  every  brilliant  hue.  All 
that  belonged  to  the  ornament  of  the  board  was  superb. 
The  wealth  of  the  patricians,  and  their  perpetual  inter- 
course with  Greece,  made  them  masters  of  the  finest  per- 
formances of  the  arts.  The  sums  expended  on  plate  were 
enormous,  but  its  taste  and  beauty  were  essential  to  the  re- 
fined enjoyment  of  the  banquet.  The  table  was  covered 
with  copies  of  the  most  famous  statues  and  groups  of  sculp- 
ture, in  the  precious  metals;  exquisite  tiophies  of  Greek 
and  Eoman  victory;  models  of  the  celebrated  temples; 
mingled  with  vases  of  flowers  and  burning  perfumes;  and, 
covering  and  coloring  all,  was  a  vast  scarlet  canopy,  which 
combined  the  groups  beneath  the  eye,  and  threw  the  whole 
scene  into  the  light  that  a  painter  would  love.  But  yet 
finer  skill  was  shown  in  the  constant  prevention  of  that 
want  of  topic  which  turns  conversation  into  weariness. 
There  was  a  perpetual  succession  of  new  excitements.  Even 
the  common  changes  of  the  table  were  made  to  assist  this 
purpose.  The  entrance  of  each  course  was  announced  by 
music,  and  the  attendants  Avere  preceded  by  a  procession  of 
minstrels,  chaplet-crowned,  and  playing  Grecian  melodies. 
Between  the  courses  a  still  higher  entertainment  was 
offered,  in  the  recitations,  dramas,  and  pleasantries,  read 
or  acted  by  a  class  of  professional  satirists  of  the  absurdi- 
ties of  the  day. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  how  fertile  a  source  of  interest  this 
must  have  been  made  by  the  subtle  and  splenetic  Italian, 
moving  through  Eoman  life;  the  most  various,  animating, 
and  fantastic  scene,  in  which  society  ever  shone.  The  reci- 


426  BALATHIEL. 

tations  were  always  looked  to  as  the  charm  of  the  feast. 
They  were  often  severe ;  but  their  severity  was  reserved  for 
public  men  and  matters.  The  court  supplied  the  most 
tempting  and  popular  ridicule ;  but  the  reciter  was  a  privi- 
leged person,  and  all  the  better-humored  Cajsars  bore  the 
castigation  without  a  murmur.  No  man  in  the  empire  was 
more  laughed  at  than  Vespasian,  and  no  man  of  tener  joined 
in  the  laugh.  One  of  his  morning's  sports  was  to  collect 
the  burlesques  of  the  night  before,  give  them  new  pungency 
by  a  touch  of  the  imperial  pen,  and  then  despatch  them  to 
make  their  way  through  the  world.  The  strongheaded 
sovereign  knew  the  value  of  an  organ  of  public  opinion,  and 
used  to  call  their  perusal,  "sitting  for  his  picture."  The 
picture  was  sometimes  so  strong  that  the  courtiers  trem- 
bled. But  the  veteran,  who  had  borne  thirty  years  of  bat- 
tle, laid  it  up  among  "his  portraits,"  laughed  the  insult 
away,  and  repeated  his  popular  saying,  "that,  when  he  was 
old  enough  to  come  to  years  of  discretion,  and  give  up  the 
emperor,  he  should  become  reciter  himself,  and  have  his 
turn  with  the  world."  The  recitations  again  were  varied 
by  a  sportive  lottery,  in  which  the  guests  drew  prizes; 
sometimes  of  value,  gems  and  plate ;  sometimes  merely  an 
epigram,  or  a  caricature.  The  banquet  generally  closed 
with  a  theatric  dance  by  the  chief  public  performers  of  the 
day;  and  the  finest  forms  and  the  most  delicate  art  of 
Greece  and  Ionia  displayed — the  story  of  Theseus  and 
Ariadne;  the  flight  of  Jason;  the  fate  of  Semele,  or  some 
other  of  their  brilliant  fictions.  In  the  presence  of  this 
vivid  display,  sat,  tempering  its  sportiveness  by  the  majesty 
of  religion,  the  three  great  tutelar  idols  of  Home — Jove, 
Juno,  and  Minerva,  of  colossal  height,  throned  at  the  head 
of  the  hall ;  completing,  false  as  they  were,  the  most  singu- 
lar and  dazzling  combination  that  man  ever  saw  of  the 
delight  of  the  senses,  with  the  delight  of  the  mind. 

To  me  human  joy  was  always  a  source  of  enjo3'ment ;  and 
in  the  sounds  of  the  harps  and  flutes,  and  the  pleasant  mur- 
mur of  cheerful  voices,  I  was  not  unwilling  to  forget  the 
spot  from  which  I  listened.  But  the  prisoner  cannot  long 
forget  his  cell ;  and  closing  the  casement,  I  walked  away. 

"Little  I  ever  thought,"  sighed  the  old  steward,  "of 
seeing  that  sight.  But  all  nations  have  fallen  in  their  time, 
and  perhaps  the  only  wonder  is,  that  Israel  should  have 


8ALATHIEL.  427 

stood  so  long.  It  is  still  stranger  to  my  eyes  to  see  that 
gallery  as  it  is  to-night.  It  is  fifteen  years  this  very  day 
since  I  saw  the  light  of  lamp,  or  the  foot  of  man,  within 
those  casements." 

"Yet,"  said  I,  "the  great  Ananus  lived  as  became  his 
rank;  and  there  were  then  no  dangers  to  disturb  him  in 
the  midst  of  his  people." 

"But  there  was  one  terrible  event  which  made  those  walls 
unhallowed;  nay,  even  in  this  spot,  I  would  not  remain 
alone  through  the  night,  to  have  the  palace  for  my  own." 

A  rich  strain  of  music  that  ushered  in  some  change  in  the 
displays  of  the  banquet,  interrupted  my  question ;  while  the 
old  man's  countenance  assumed  something  of  the  alarm 
which  he  described. 

"That  sound,"  said  he,  shuddering,  "goes  to  my  heart. 
It  is  the  same  that  I  heard  on  the  night  of  death.  On  that 
night,  Matthan,  the  only  son  of  my  great  master,  was  to  be 
wedded  to  the  daughter  of  the  Prince  of  Hebron ;  and  that 
gallery  was  laid  out  for  the  wedding  feast.  All  the  leaders 
of  Jerusalem  were  there,  all  the  noble  women,  all  the  chief 
priesthood;  all  the  grandeur,  wealth,  and  beauty  of  our 
tribe.  But  Matthan  was  not  the  son  of  his  father's  mind. 
He  had  fled  from  his  father's  roof  years  before,  and  taken 
refuge  in  the  mountains.  The  caravan  passing  through 
Galilee  dreaded  the  name  of  Matthan,  for  he  was  bold;  the 
chief  of  the  hills  saw  his  followers  flying  from  his  side,  for 
deadly  was  the  spear  of  Matthan ;  but  he  was  generous,  and 
often  the  slave  rejoiced  in  the  breaking  of  his  chains,  and 
the  peasant  saw  his  flocks  cover  the  valley  again  by  the  arm 
and  the  bounty  of  Matthan. 

"I  saw  him  on  the  day  when  he  returned;  danger  or 
sorrow  had  wrought  a  change  in  him  like  the  passing  from 
youth  to  age.  His  strength  was  gone,  and  his  voice  was 
broken,  like  the  voice  of  him  that  treads  on  the  brink  of  the 
timely  grave.  His  noble  father  wept  over  him,  but  gave 
him  welcome ;  and  the  palace  was  filled  with  rejoicing  for 
the  coming  back  of  the  first-born.  Yet  he  took  no  delight 
in  the  feast,  neither  in  the  praises  of  men.,  nor  in  the  voice 
of  the  singer.  He  wandered  through  his  father's  halls,  even 
as  the  leopard,  chained,  and  longing  to  escape  to  the  desert 
and  the  prey  again.  He  grew  more  lonely  day  by  day; 
withdrew  from  the  amusements  of  his  rank,  and  shut  him- 


428  8ALATHIEL. 

self  up  in  the  wing  of  the  palace,  ending  in  this  tower.  In 
this  room  I  have  seen  his  lamp  burning  through  the  live- 
long winter  nights,  and  grieved  over  the  sleeplessness  that 
sho\ved  he  was  among  the  unhappy. 

"At  last  a  change  was  wrought  upon  him.  He  went 
forth;  he  took  delight  in  the  horse  and  the  chariot,  in  the 
chase,  and  the  feast,  and  the  die.  His  father,  that  he  might 
bless  his  posterity  before  he  died,  counselled  him  to  take  to 
wife  Thamar,  the  noblest  of  the  daughters  of  Hebron.  The 
day  of  the  marriage  was  appointed.  On  that  day  I  saw  him 
come  from  the  council-hall,  after  receiving  the  congratula- 
tions of  his  friends.  I  saw  him  passing  along  to  his  cham- 
ber ;  but  I  dared  not  cross  him  on  his  way.  He  thought  that 
he  was  alone,  and  then  he  gave  way  to  his  agony.  Never 
did  I  behold  such  a  countenance  of  wrath  and  woe.  He 
tottered  towards  me,  and  I  dreaded  his  rage ;  but  I  saw  at 
a  glance  that  his  mind  was  gone.  He  was  talking  to  the 
air;  he  clasped  his  hands  wildly;  his  face  was  covered  with 
tears ;  he  implored  for  mercy,  and  fell.  I  hastened  to  bear 
him  to  a  couch ;  he  saw  me  not,  but  cried  out  against  him- 
self as  a  betrayer  and  a  murderer,  the  fugitive  from  honor, 
the  criminal  marked  by  the  hand  of  Heaven. 

"The  evening  fell,  and  I  saw  him  ride  forth  at  the  head 
of  his  kindred  to  bring  home  the  bride.  I  watched  for  his 
return  with  anxiety,  for  I  deemed  him  unhallowed. 

"But  all  was  well;  the  bridal  train  returned.  Matthan, 
glittering  in  jewels,  came  proudly  reining  a  steed,  white  as 
the  snow.  The  harp  and  trumpet — the  chorus  of  the  singers 
— the  light  of  the  torches — and  the  glitter  of  the  youths 
and  maidens  who  danced  before  the  bride,  made  me  forget 
everything  but  the  joy  of  seeing  peace  among  us  once  more  ! 
But  at  the  banquet  the  wonder  of  all  was  the  bridegroom 
himself.  Loud  as  they  were,  his  voice  was  the  loudest ;  1i«j 
laughted  at  everything,  as  if  he  had  never  known  a  care  in 
the  world,  or  was  never  to  know  one  again.  The  jest  was 
never  out  of  his  lips ;  and  when  he  pledged  the  cup  to  the 
health  of  the  company,  or  the  fair  bride — and  often  he 
pledged  it  that  evening,  he  always  said  something  that 
raised  shouts  of  applause.  I  once  or  twice  passed  near  him, 
but  he  had  wiped  everv  siim  of  grief  from  his  features;  and 
if  he  seemed  to  be  mad  with  anything,  it  was  with  joy. 
"I  was  standing,  in  the  train  of  the  high-priest,  near  the 


&ALATHIEL. 

Central  casement,  through  which  you  now  see  the  throne  of 
Titus.  My  eyes,  I  know  not  why,  strayed  to  this  tower ;  I 
marked  a  feeble  lamp,  a  form  rushing  backwards  and  for- 
wards, in  gestures  of  violent  sorrow.  A  foot  beside  me  made 
me  turn.  There  stood  Matthan,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  tower.  But  his  mind  was  gone.  He  looked  like  a  man 
stricken  into  stone.  He  saw  me  not ;  he  saw  not  the  guests ; 
he  saw  nothing  but  the  feeble  lamp,  the  hurrying  form. 

"The  chorus  of  the  singing  women  announced  that  the 
bride  was  about  to  come.  I  looked  up  at  the  tower;  the 
lamp  was  twinkling  its  last;  and  the  form  was  still  seen 
wringing  its  hands.  The  hymn  began  that  denotes  the 
veiling  of  the  bride.  But  my  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  dying 
light,  and  the  form,  which  now  held  a  cup  in  its  hand.  A 
shriek  was  heard,  so  wild  that  the  guests  sprang  from  their 
seats  in  alarm  and  astonishment.  My  eye  turned  upon 
Matthan. 

"Clasping  his  hand  upon  his  brow,  he  abruptly  turned 
from  the  window,  and  demanded  why  the  bridal  attendants 
delayed  the  'coming  of  the  princess  of  Hebron.'  The  lamp 
had  now  disappeared,  and  the  tower  was  in  darkness  again. 
The  portals  were  at  length  thrown  open,  and  the  bride  was 
led  up  to  the  canopy  beneath  which  the  bridegroom  stood. 
He  raised  the  veil.  His  countenance  was  instantly  trans- 
formed into  horror.  He  uttered  no  voice,  but  stood  gazing. 
The  bride  let  fall  the  veil  again,  and  taking  his  hand,  led 
him  slowly,  and  without  a  word,  down  the  hall. 

"None  checked  this  strange  ceremony;  none  dared  to 
check  it.  We  were  deprived  of  all  power  by  astonishment. 
The  high-priest  himself  stood  with  his  venerable  hands 
lifted  up  to  heaven,  as  if  he  felt  that  evil  was  come  upon 
his  house.  The  wedded  pair  walked  in  silence  through  the 
long  range  of  chambers  to  the  tower;  and  as  they  passed, 
the  numberless  attendants  felt  themselves  bound  by  mys- 
terious awe.  But  our  senses  at  length  returned,  and  Ananus, 
in  the  full  dread  of  misfortune,  yet  bold  to  his  dying  hour, 
suffered  none  to  go  before  him.  We  found  the  door  of  the 
tower  barred,  and  long  summoned  Matthan  to  come  forth 
and  relieve  our  fears  lest  some  desperate  invention  of  sor- 
cery had  been  played  upon  him.  No  answer  was  returned, 
and  we  forced  the  door. 

"What  a  sight  was  there !  Two  corpses  lay,  side  by  side. 


430  SAL  ATE  I  EL 

The  blood  still  trickled  from  the  bosom  of  the  unfortunate 
Matthan.  I  raised  the  veil  of  the  bride ;  the  hue  of  poison 
was  upon  the  lips ;  but  they  were  not  the  lips  of  the  princess 
of  Hebron.  The  countenance  was  Arabian,  and  of  exceed- 
ing beauty,  but  wan  and  wasted  by  sorrow." 

"Who,  then,  was  his  strange  companion  in  the  hall?"  I 
asked. 

The  answer  was  given  with  a  shudder.  "I  know  not — 
but  it  seemed  scarcely  a  being  of  this  world.  A  new  con- 
fusion arose.  The  mountaineers,  on  hearing  of  the  death 
of  their  lord,  and  still  more  of  that  noble  creature  in  whom 
they  honored  the  race  of  their  chieftains,  demanded  venge- 
ance: they  were  too  fierce  to  listen  to  reason,  and  our 
attempts  to  explain  the  unhappy  truth  only  kindled  their 
rage.  Scimitars  were  drawn,  blood  was  shed ;  and  though 
the  barbarians  were  repelled,  yet  they  plundered  the  wing 
of  the  palace,  and  bore  off  the  infant  offspring  of  their  dead 
mistress ;  the  last  scion  of  an  illustrious  tree,  that  was  itself 
so  soon  to  feel  the  axe. 

"I  saw  the  unfortunate  and  guilty  Matthan  laid  in  the 
sepulchre  of  his  fathers — the  last  that  ever  slept  there ;  for 
his  great  sire,  worthy  of  being  laid  in  the  monument  of 
kings,  was  denied  the  honors  of  the  grave  by  his  murderers. 
Yet  he  sleeps  in  the  noblest  of  all  graves;  his  memory  is 
treasured  in  the  love  and  sorrows  of  his  country. 

"It  was  discovered  that  Matthan,  during  his  wanderings 
in  the  desert,  had  wedded  the  daughter  of  a  sheik.  He 
loved  her  with  the  violence  of  his  nature;  but  the  prospects 
which  opened  to  him  on  his  return  to  his  country  made 
him  shrink  from  the  acknowledgment  of  his  Arabian  bride. 
Yet,  to  live  without  her  he  found  impossible;  and  he 
brought  her  to  the  tower.  Surrounded  by  his  mountaineers, 
this  portion  of  the  palace  was  inaccessible.  The  Arabian 
knew  of  the  intended  marriage,  and  pined  away  before  his 
eyes.  Eemorse  and  ambition  alternately  distracted  him. 
The  bridal  procession  was  seen  by  the  unhappy  wife,  and 
she  swallowed  poison.  The  rest  is  beyond  my  power  to 
account  for.  But  it  is  rumored  among  the  attendants  that 
strange  sights  have  since  been  seen,  and  sounds  of  a  bridal 
throng  heard  in  the'  chambers  through  which  their  last 
melancholy  procession  was  made;  though,  whether  it  be 
truth,  or  the  common  fear  of  the  peasantry,  I  know  not, 
nor  indeed  wish  too  curiously  to  inquire." 


&ALATHIEL.  431 

CHAPTER  LXIL 

As  the  old  man  spoke,  sounds  arose  not  unsuited  to  his 
tale.  But  my  faith  in  the  legend  did  not  amount  to  so 
sudden  a  realization,  and  I  looked  towards  the  banquet. 
There,  from  whatever  motive,  everything  was  in  sudden 
disturbance.  The  guests  were  hurrying  from  the  tables. 
Many  had  thrown  the  military  cloak  over  their  festal  robes ; 
some  were  in  the  adjoining  apartments,  hastily  equipping 
themselves  with  arms  and  armor.  A  group  were  standing 
round  Titus,  evidently  in  anxious  consultation.  In  the 
spacious  grounds  below  horsemen  were  mounting,  and  at- 
tendants hurrying  in  all  directions.  The  calls  of  the  clarion 
echoed  through  the  courts:  shortly  after,  a  large  body  of 
cavalry  came  wheeling  round  to  the  portal  of  the  gardens ; 
and  Titus  went  forth,  conspicuous  among  the  bustling 
crowd,  for  his  manly  composure.  He  gave  some  orders, 
which  were  despatched  by  tribunes  galloping  as  for  their 
lives;  then,  mounting  his  charger,  rode  slowly  through  the 
gates  at  the  head  of  his  stately  company,  himself  the  most 
stately  of  them  all. 

The  woods  surrounding  the  palace  soon  intercepted  the 
view  of  the  imperial  troop ;  and,  after  straining  my  eyes  as 
long  as  I  could  see  the  glitter  of  a  helmet  by  the  waning 
moon,  I  turned  to  my  casement,  to  make  that  prayer  for  the 
peace  of  Jerusalem  which  had  been  nightly  on  my  lips,  from 
the  hour  when  they  first  could  pronounce  the  name.  From 
the  dungeon  has  that  supplication  risen;  from  the  mine; 
from  the  sands  of  the  wilderness;  from  the  shores  of  the 
farthest  ocean ;  from  the  bosom  of  the  rolling  waters ;  from 
the  fires  of  the  persecutor ;  from  the  field  before  the  battle ; 
from  the  field  covered  with  its  dead ;  from  the  living  grave 
of  the  monk;  from  the  cavern  of  the  robber;  from  the 
palace ;  even  from  the  scaffold ! 

While  I  continued  in  this  outpouring  of  the  soul,  with 
my  eyes  fixed  on  the  cloudy  world  above,  a  pale  reflection 
spread  over  the  masses  of  rolling  vapor ;  it  lingered,  faded, 
and  night  covered  the  earth ;  suddenly,  a  fierce  lustre  turned 
the  low  and  heavy  clouds  into  the  color  of  conflagration. 

"There  is  an  attack  on  either  the  enemy's  camp,  or  the 
city,"  I  exclaimed  to  my  companion.  '^Daybreak  it  cannot 
be,  for  the  middle  watch  has  not  been  half  an  hour  sounded. 


432  8ALATHIEL. 

Help  me  to  escape ;  be  but  my  guide  through  the  chambers, 
and  name  your  recompense." 

The  steward  wrung  his  helpless  hands,  and  offered  his 
life  to  my  service;  but  described  the  precautions  of  my 
jailors  so  fully,  that  I  gave  up  the  idea.  Still,  I  was  tossed 
by  anxious  thoughts.  I  heard  the  treading  of  the  guard, 
until  its  recurrence  irritated  me.  The  meanings  of  the 
wind  through  the  trees  told  that  a  storm  was  rising ;  and  to 
get  rid  of  the  uneasy  conflict  between  the  desire  of  sleep 
and  the  difficulty  of  shutting  out  thought,  I  rose,  and 
watched  the  progress  of  the  tempest. 

The  lightnings  flashed  in  broad  beams  through  the 
clouds,  and  the  rain  fell  with  the  violence  of  the  southern 
storm.  But  through  the  flash,  deepening  again,  shone  the 
red  illumination  above  the  city;  and  neither  the  roar  of 
the  wind,  nor  the  dash  of  the  descending  deluge,  could  ex- 
tinguish the  shouts  that,  remote  as  they  were,  I  knew  to  be 
shouts  of  battle.  I  measured  the  tower  with  my  eye;  I 
tried  the  strength  of  the  bars;  but  the  attempt  only  served 
to  disturb  my  companion,  who  had  survived  his  sorrows 
long  enough  to  sleep  as  soundly  as  if  there  were  not  a  woe 
on  earth.  "I  am  glad,"  said  he,  "that  you  awoke  me;  for 
I  was  dreaming  the  story  of  my  unfortunate  lord  and  his 
son  over  again." 

"The  natural  result  of  your  having  so  lately  renewed  its 
recollection." 

"Ay,  there  is  perhaps  scarcely  a  room  under  the  palace 
roof,  where  some  heart  is  not  trembling  to-night  with 
ghostly  fear;  nor  a  peasant's  thatch  where  the  death  of 
Matthan  and  the  Arabian  has  not  made  pale  faces;  and 
men  tell  of  the  bridegroom  stricken  in  his  hour  of  pride. 
But — powers  of  Heaven  preserve  us !  look  there  !" 

I  looked;  but  it  was  to  the  old  man,  whose  countenance 
alarmed  me  with  the  idea  that  he  had  wrought  his  imagi- 
nation to  a  hazardous  extreme.  I  took  his  cold  hand :  and 
telling  him  that  I  felt  unable  to  sleep,  gently  laid  his 
stiffened  limbs  on  the  couch,  and  bade  him  try  to  reft.  But 
his  eye  stared  through  the  casement,  till  I  followed  its 
direction,  yet  with  only  the  added  belief,  that  he  was  over- 
come by  the  common  terrors  of  the  household ;  for,  to  me, 
tenfold  darkness  lay  upon  every  object,  from  the  ground 
to  the  battlements. 


&ALATBIEL.  433 

I  accidentally  glanced  at  the  gallery,  and  there  I  saw  a 
figure,  slight  and  shadowy,  passing  backward  and  forward 
in  front  of  a  quivering  lamp  !  My  surprise  was  more  start- 
ling than  I  would  venture  to  communicate  to  my  com- 
panion, already  almost  paralyzed  with  fear.  But  if  I  had 
conjured  up  a  phantom  to  give  force  to  the  tale,  none  could 
have  been  more  closely  similar.  The  figure  was  enveloped 
in  robes  whose  richness  I  could  perceive  even  across  the 
court ;  the  gestures,  the  wild  hurry  of  the  pacings  through 
the  chamber,  the  general  air  of  woe  and  distraction,  were 
not  to  be  mistaken.  In  the  midst  of  the  silence,  I  heard 
the  creaking  of  bolts  and  the  fall  of  chains,  that  seemed  to 
be  at  my  side.  A  single  word  followed;  but  that  word  was 
terribly  comprehensive — "Death  !"  The  sound  was  uttered 
in  a  sepulchral  tone,  that  left  the  imagination  free  to  shape 
the  picture  with  what  sullenness  it  willed ! 

The  old  man  was  convinced  that  the  vengeance  which 
had  stricken  his  master's  house  was  still  abroad,  and  that 
he  had  beheld  its  minister. 

I  tended  him,  with  the  more  interest,  from  my  being  not 
altogether  unimpressed  with  the  possibility  that  his  alarms 
were  just.  I  was  no  believer  in  the  vulgar  narratives  of 
superstition.  But  nature  has  her  mysteries  ! 

While  I  sat  beside  the  couch,  and  watched  the  ebbs  and 
flows  of  life,  in  a  frame  that  I  sometimes  expected  to  see 
utterly  give  way,  a  jarring  of  bolts  again  struck  my  ear.  I 
listened  with  a  strange  emotion.  The  old  man  had  heard 
it,  and  in  a  new  convulsion  grasped  both  my  hands,  and 
held  me  close.  The  sound  returned;  it  increased;  I  saw 
the  wall  of  the  tower  open,  and  the  figure  stand  before  me. 
"It  is  she,  it  is  she,"  suddenly  murmured  my  companion, 
fixing  his  eyes  on  it,  and  holding  me  with  the  clasp  of 
agony.  The  heart  beat  thick  within  me;  but  I  interposed 
myself  between  the  corpse-like  being  whom  I  held  in  my 
arms  and  the  unearthly  visitant,  and  demanded  "for  what 
purpose  it  had  come."  The  figure  started  as  I  spoke ;  then, 
gazing  intently  on  me  as  I  turned  to  the  light,  threw  the 
mantle  from  its  forehead,  and  fell  at  my  feet.  The  lovely 
Naomi  was  the  spectre !  Yet,  perfectly  guiltless  of  the 
ghostly  potency  of  her  presence,  and  the  unfilial  alarm 
into  which  she  had  thrown  her  adopted  father,  whom  she 
was  delighted  to  find,  but  whom  she  candidly  acknowledged 
"she  never  dreamed  of  finding  there." 


434  BALATHIEL. 

"The  tower  contains  a  prisoner,"  said  she  tremblingly, 
"who  must  be  saved  this  night ;  for  to-morrow  at  daybreak 
is  his  dreadful  hour.  I  knew  that  he  would  be  condemned ; 
and  we  agreed  on  a  signal,  by  which  I  was  to  learn  when 
the  time  was  fixed.  I  have  watched  all  night  for  it,  and 
almost  betrayed  myself  by  a  cry  of  horror  that  I  could  not 
suppress,  at  t<he  sight  of  that  signal  just  now.  I  had  no 
resource  but  to  bear  my  own  message,  and  assist  him  myself 
in  escaping  from  this  place  of  sorrow." 

"But,  my  child,  who  is  the  prisoner,  or  where  ?" 

She  blushed,  and  said,  "One  who  saved  me  when  the 
world  was  against  me.  He  rescued  me  from  the  hands  of 
barbarians;  and  could  I  leave  him  to  perish?" 

"Lead  on  then,  and  without  delay;  for  daybreak  is  not 
far.  But  how  shall  we  find  our  way  to  his  dungeon?" 

"I  paid  high,"  said  she,  "for  my  knowledge  of  this  tower ; 
and  it  has  no  concealments  from  me.  Remove  this  bar." 
I  drew  out  a  slender  iron  rod;  a  door,  deep  in  the  wall, 
gave  way,  and  disclosed  a  winding  stair,  by  which  we  de- 
scended. We  found  the  prisoner  writing,  and  so  earnestly 
occupied  that  our  footsteps  did  not  interrupt  him. 

"There,"  soliloquized  he,  as  he  ran  his  eye  down  the 
epistle ;  "I  think,  my  masters,  if  not  the  better,  some  of  you 
will  be  the  wiser  for  my  labors.  Home  truths  are  the 
truths  after  all.  Titus  will  learn  what  a  set  of  incurable 
reprobates  he  has  about  him;  and  by  this  time  to-morrow, 
when  I  shall  care  as  little  for  mankind  as  mankind  ever 
cared  for  me,  I  shall  do  the  state  service;  from  my  gibbet 
turn  reformer,  and  make  the  scaffold  popular.  And  now, 
for  the  farewell  to  my  lady  and  my  love." 

He  sighed,  and  threw  down  the  pen.  "No,  I  can  say 
nothing  half  so  fond,  or  half  so  bitter,  as  my  feelings  at 
this  moment.  Would  that  I  had  never  seen  you,  if  we  are  to 
part  so  soon.  Yet  why  should  I  regret  to  have  known  in- 
nocence and  beauty  in  their  perfection  ?  No,  my  love,  rosy 
was  the  hour  when  I  first  saw  you,  and  proud  is  even  the 
parting  hour  that  tells  me  I  could  have  loved  so  noble  a 
being."  He  sighed.  "But  all  is  better  as  it  is.  How  could 
I  have  borne  to  see  you  following  the  fortunes  of  a  wan- 
derer, of  a  man  without  a  country  or  a  name  ?  Then  fare- 
well, my  Naomi ;  dearest,  farewell ;  you  were  the  gleam  of 
eunshine  in  my  cloudy  day,  the  star  in  my  dreary  night ;  and 


8ALATHIEL.  435 

while  my  heart  beats,  you  shall  be  there.  Your  name  shall 
be  the  last  upon  my  lips;  and  if  there  be  thought  beyond 
the  grave,  you  shall  be  remembered,  and — oh,  how  deeply — 
loved !" 

I  had  been  on  the  point  of  disturbing  his  meditation ;  but 
Naomi,  with  the  fine  avarice  of  passion,  would  not  lose  a 
syllable.  She  held  me  back,  and  implored  me  by  her  coun- 
tenance to  let  her  have  the  full  confession  of  her  lover's 
faith.  That  beautiful  countenance  ran  through  all  the 
shades  of  feeling,  and  was  covered  with  blushes  and  tears, 
while  the  unconscious  worshipper  poured  out  his  devotion. 
But  the  time  was  flying;  I  insisted  on  interrupting  this 
epicurism  of  the  soul ;  and  when  Naomi  found  that  she 
must  hear  no  more,  she  would  allow  none  but  herself  the 
pleasure  of  the  surprise.  A  sigh  which  swelled  from  the 
prisoner's  heart  was  echoed.  He  turned  suddenly,  and  pro- 
nounced her  name  with  a  loudness  of  delight  that  nothing 
but  the  chance  that  protects  the  imprudent  could  have  pre- 
vented from  bringing  the  guard  upon  us.  His  quick  eye 
soon  caught  me  where  I  stood  in  shadow,  and  he  sprang 
forward  to  extinguish  the  intruder.  But  the  lamp  saved 
us  from  the  encounter;  and  lifting  his  hands  and  eyes  in 
amazement,  he  laughed  as  loudly  as  he  had  spoken. 

"In  the  name  of  all  the  wonders  of  the  world,"  exclaimed 
he,  "are  you  here  too?  Where  are  we  to  meet  next?  We 
have  met  already  in  water,  fire,  and  earth,  and  nothing  is 
left  for  us  now  but  the  clouds.  Come,  be  honest,  prince, 
and  tell  me  whether  it  was  not  for  the  sake  of  some  such 
experiment  that  you  ventured  here;  for  if  another  hour 
finds  us  within  these  four  walls  we  shall  know  the  grand 
secret  as  assuredly  as  Titus  wears  a  head  and  has  a  traitor 
at  his  elbow."  It  was  the  Arab  captain ! 

I  was  rejoiced  to  find  that  in  attempting  to  save  the  life 
of  Naomi's  lover,  I  was  discharging  a  debt  to  the  preserver 
of  my  own.  To  my  mention  of  this  service,  he  replied  with 
soldier-like  frankness,  that  "I  owed  him  no  obligation 
whatever;  he  had  long  hated  the  intolerable  cruelty  of 
Cestius,  and  the  debt  was  on  his  side,  as  I  had  indulged 
him  with  an  opportunity  that  every  officer  in  the  service 
would  have  been  happy  to  use." 

Naomi  hung  upon  me,  pale,  and  anxiously  listening  to 
every  sound  abroad.  "This  little  trembler,"  said  he  sport- 


436  SALATHIEL. 

ively,  as  he  took  her  passive  hand,  "I  am  destined  to  meet 
always  in  alarm.  I  first  found  her  flying  from  a  troop  of 
human  brutes  who  were  robbing  the  baggage  of  the  Roman 
camp;  I  thought  her  worth  something  better  than  to  keep 
goats  on  the  Libanus,  and  weave  turbans  for  some  Syrian 
deserter ;  she  was  of  the  same  opinion,  and  fell  in  love  with 
me  on  the  spot."  Naomi  exclaimed  against  this  version  of 
the  story.  "No  matter  for  the  mode,"  said  he,  "I  give  the 
facts.  I  dazzled  her  ambition  by  the  promise  of  a  palace — 
in  the  air ;  bribed  her  avarice  by  the  display  of  a  purse  un- 
conscious of  gold;  and  bewitched  her  senses  by  a  speech, 
a  smile,  and  a  figure,  that  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I 
found  to  be  irresistible/"' 

Naomi  again  protested,  and  the  dialogue  might  have  con- 
sumed half  the  night  without  their  discovering  the  lapse  of 
time,  had  I  not  interposed,  and  inquired  what  further 
means  of  escape  were  in  our  power.  The  lovely  girl  started 
from  her  waking  dream,  and  pointed  to  a  ring  in  the  wall. 
I  tried  it,  but  it  resisted  my  force.  At  length  we  all  strove 
at  it  together.  But  no  door  opened.  Naomi  wrung  her 
hands.  "The  unfortunate  lord  of  this  tower  in  former 
times,"  said  she,  and  the  tear  stood  in  her  eye,  "always  pre- 
dicted that  it  would  be  fatal  to  his  family.  To  escape  his 
own  fate,  he  pierced  its  walls  with  passages  in  every  direc- 
tion, but  they  did  not  save  my  noble,  my  unfortunate 
father."  She  sat  down  weeping,  while  I  tore  at  the  ring, 
which  finally  broke  off  in  my  hands.  The  lover  stood  with 
folded  arms,  gazing  in  sad  delight  on  the  beautiful  being 
from  whom  he  was  so  soon  to  part  forever,  and  whose  face 
and  form  wore  almost  the  shadowy  loveliness  of  a  vision. 

The  chance  of  their  escape  now  devolved  on  me  solely, 
for  neither  would  have  desired  to  disturb  that  strange  and 
melancholy  luxury  of  contemplation.  But  as  the  concealed 
door  must  be  given  up,  the  only  resource  was  to  return  to 
my  cell,  and  thence  make  our  way  through  the  passage  by 
which  Naomi  had  arrived.  A  glance  from  the  casement 
showed  me  the  court  filled  with  soldiery,  and  lights  moving 
through  the  palace.  This  hope  was  gone  ! 

There  was  now  no  alternative  but  to  be  seized  and  die,  or 
to  make  a  bold  rush  for  life,  and  take  our  chance.  I  carried 
the  fainting  Naomi  up  the  stairs;  and  suppressing  the 
infinite  risk  of  the  attempt  to  penetrate  through  a  building 


8ALATHIEL.  437 

in  which  its  inmates  were  still  awake  and  busy,  and  which 
was  guarded  by  the  vigilance  of  Koman  patrols,  I  advised 
that  we  should  do  anything  rather  than  remain  wher.e  we 
were.  She  was  timid  and  submissive;  but,  to  my  surprise, 
the  bold  seaman,  the  haughty  leader  of  men  harder  to  be 
ruled  than  the  elements,  the  gallant  despiser  of  death  but  a 
day  past,  was  now  totally  unnerved.  The  novelty  of  pas- 
sion absorbed  the  spirit  of  the  man;  he  lingered  near  his 
mistress,  and  gazed  on  her  with  an  intenseness  that  told  his 
world  was  there.  To  my  questions  he  gave  no  answer,  but 
obeyed  without  a  word,  or  a  glance  turned  from  the  ex- 
quisite countenance  that  sank  and  blushed  under  his  gaze. 
If  the  actual  power  of  enchantment  had  been  wrought  upon 
him,  he  could  not  have  been  more  fixed,  helpless,  and 
charmed. 

I  heard  the  voice  of  pain,  and  thought  of  the  ancient 
follower  of  the  house  of  Ananus.  My  cooler  judgment  had 
acquitted  him  of  betraying  me  into  the  enemy's  hands.  A 
part  of  the  cell  was  filled  up  with  remnants  of  a  canopy 
removed  from  the  statelier  apartments.  The  groan  came 
from  behind  them.  I  flung  them  away,  and  saw  a  door 
open  by  which  he  must  have  entered.  I  returned,  desired 
the  captain  and  Naomi  to  follow,  wrapped  myself  in  a 
cloak,  and  sword  in  hand  led  the  way  through  the  darkness. 
A  strong  light  at  length  flashed*  up  the  stairs,  and,  taking 
Naomi's  hand,  I  led  her  down  this  steep  and  narrow  outlet 
of  the  grand  gallery.  As  she  came  towards  the  light,  a 
wild  cry  was  given;  a  man  rushed  back,  and  exclaiming, 
"It  is  she  risen  from  the  grave,  the  Arabian !"  darted 
through  the  vast  hall,  in  which  were  still  a  number  of  do- 
mestics setting  it  in  order  after  the  banquet.  Every  eye 
instantly  turned  to  the  spot  from  which  we  emerged. 
Naomi's  white-robed  form,  followed  by  her  lover's  and 
mine  wrapped  to  the  brow  in  our  dark  mantles,  formidably 
verified  the  superstition.  The  crowd  were  already  pre- 
pared to  witness  a  wonder  on  this  night  of  woe ;  they  fled  or 
fell  on  their  faces.  The  man,  still  rushing  on,  propagated 
terror  before  us;  and  through  the  long  vista  of  lighted 
chambers,  where  to  be  seen  might  have  been  ruin,  we  moved 
unquestioned  until  we  reached  the  portal.  It,  too,  had  been 
thrown  open  by  some  of  the  fugitives ;  the  gardens  were  de- 
serted, the  troops  had  been  drawn  to  another  quarter  of 


438  SALATHIEL. 

the  palace.  Before  us  was  welcome  solitude,  and  we  were 
soon  winding  through  the  wood-paths  by  the  light  of  the 
stars. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

WHILE  we  traversed  the  grounds,  the  heaving  of  the 
branches  under  the  wind,  which  rose  in  strong  gusts  from 
time  to  time,  and  the  rush  of  the  rivulets  from  the  hill- 
sides, which  retained  the  swell  of  the  meltiner  snows,  pre- 
vented our  hearing  other  sounds;  but  when  we  emerged 
from  this  little  forest  of  every  plant  that  yields  fruit  or 
fragrance,  and  began  to  climb  the  surrounding  ridge,  the 
sights  and  sounds  to  which  I  had  been  so  long  accustomed 
broke  upon  us.  To  the  south  a  long  line  of  light  showed 
where  Jerusalem  was  struggling  against  a  midnight  as- 
sault, and  the  uproar  of  battle  came  wildly  on  the  wind. 
The  Roman  camp-fires  blazed  round  the  promontory 
Scopas,  like  the  innumerable  crevices  of  a  huge  volcanic 
hill  breathing  flame  from  root  to  summit.  But  a  more 
immediate  peril  lay  behind  us.  The  first  height  from  which 
we  could  see  the  palace  showed  us  the  well-known  fire-sig- 
nals of  the  enemy,  flaming  on  its  battlements.  Our  escape 
had  been  discovered.  The  signals  were  answered  from 
every  point  of  the  horizon.  Where  was  a  signal,  there 
was  an  enemy's  post ;  we  could  not  advance  a  step  without 
the  most  imminent  chance  of  seizure;  and  in  those  times, 
death,  by  the  shaft  or  the  sword,  was  the  instant  conse- 
quence. The  signals  were  followed  by  the  trumpet;  and 
every  blast  from  the  palace-roof  was  answered  for  miles 
round.  The  whole  horizon  was  alive  with  enemies;  and 
yet,  if  in  every  call  captivity  and  death  had  not  been  the 
language,  this  circling  echo  of  the  noblest  of  all  instru- 
ments of  sound,  coming  in  a  thousand  various  tones  from 
the  varied  distances,  softened  by  the  dewv  softness  of  the 
night,  and  breathing  from  sources  invisible,  as  if  they 
were  inspired  only  by  the  winds,  or  poured  from  the  clouds, 
might  have  seemed  sublime! 

But  a  new  alarm  rose  in  the  direction  of  the  forest,  which 
now  lay  beneath  us,  like  a  sea  slightly  silvered  on  its  thou- 
sand billows  by  the  sinking  moon.  The  trampling  of 


SALATHIEL.  439 

cavalry  was  distinctly  heard  in  pursuit,  and  torches  were 
seen  rushing  through  the  trees.  The  pursuit  had  turned 
into  the  very  path  by  which  we  came;  and  the  baying  of 
a  bloodhound  up  the  ridge  was  guiding  the  cavalry  to 
our  inevitable  capture,  if  we  remained.  I  was  resolved  not 
to  be  taken  while  I  could  fight  or  fly,  and  pointing  out  to 
my  fellow-fugitives  the  horsemen,  as  they  scoured  the  foot 
of  the  hills,  I  plunged  down  into  a  ravine,  where  I  could 
expect  to  find  only  some  torrent  too  deep  for  us  to  pass. 
But  it  was  at  least  protracted  fate.  I  had  given  Naomi 
into  the  hands  of  her  lover,  and,  while  they  slowly  de- 
scended the  precipice,  returned  to  its  edge  to  ascertain 
whether  the  enemy  were  still  upon  our  steps.  The  rock, 
towards  the  summit,  was  splintered  into  a  number  of  little 
pinnacles,  grasping  one  of  which,  I  clung,  listening  and 
gazing  with  indescribable  nervousness.  The  sounds  of  pur- 
suit had  perished  or  were  so  mingled  with  the  common 
sounds  of  nature,  as  to  be  unheard,  and  I  was  congratu- 
lating myself  upon  our  total  safety,  and  about  to  return 
to  the  spot  where  I  had  left  my  companions,  when  the 
torch-light  shot  up  from  the  dell  immediately  below  me. 
I  gave  a  hurried  glance  along  the  ravine,  but  Naomi  was 
not  there.  A  detachment  of  archers  were  climbing  over 
the  huge  rocks  that  filled  up  its  depth,  and  flashing  their 
torches  through  every  hollow  where  a  human  being  could 
lie.  To  rescue  my  unfortunate  charge  was  my  first  resolve, 
and  I  began  to  let  myself  down  the  abrupt  side  of  the  hol- 
low, before  the  torches  disappeared.  They  at  last  seemed 
to  be  completely  gone;  but  as  I  hung  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  path,  a  growl  and  a  dash  at  my  throat  nearly  over- 
threw my  steadiness.  I  knew  that  a  precipice  of  immense 
depth  lay  underneath,  and  in  the  utter  darkness  I  could 
have  no  certainty  that  my  next  step  might  not  carry  me 
over  it.  My  sole  expedient  was  to  grasp  the  rock  with  one 
hand,  and  defend  myself  to  the  last  with  the  other.  The 
bloodhound  had  tracked  me,  and  he  flew  again  at  my 
throat,  but  I  was  now  prepared ;  I  caught  him  in  the  bound, 
and  whirled  him  down  the  ravine.  His  howl  as  he  fell 
from  crag  to  crag  detected  me  at  once.  A  hundred  torches 
rushed  upwards.  I  climbed  the  pinnacle,  sprang  from 
its  top  into  a  pine  thicket,  and  winding  over  a  long  extent 
of  broken  ground,  gradually  lost  torches  and  outcries  to- 
gether. 


440  8ALATHIEL. 

After  a  pause,  to  consider  in  what  quarter  final  escape 
was  most  probable,  a  glimmering  light  through  the  thicket 
at  a  considerable  distance  towards  the  city  determined  me. 
My  pursuers  must  be  far  behind;  the  loss  of  the  blood- 
hound diminished  still  more  their  chance  of  reaching  my 
track  through  a  remarkably  wild  and  broken  district ;  and 
come  what  would,  whether  that  light  was  kindled  by  friends 
or  enemies,  I  should  see  them  before  they  could  discover  me. 
I  struggled  on,  until  I  reached  the  base  of  a  ridge,  on  whose 
further  side  the  light  gleamed.  To  ascend  it  was  beyond 
my  powers ;  but  by  gliding  along  the  base,  I  found  a  crevice, 
which,  enlarged  whether  by  nature  or  the  human  hand,  led 
through  the  hill.  My  way  in  darkness  was  brief;  I  had 
not  gone  a  third  of  the  distance,  when  the  light  shone 
strongly  through.  At  its  mouth  I  stood  overwhelmed — 
I  had  strayed  into  the  memorable  valley  of  the  Crosses! 

Thousands  of  men,  besmeared  with  blood,  dust,  and  clay, 
half-naked,  brandishing  weapons  still  dripping  with  gore, 
whirling  torches;  shouting  our  roars  of  triumph;  howling 
in  desperate  lamentation;  kneeling  and  weeping  over  the 
dead  with  the  most  violent  affliction ;  wrapping  themselves 
in  robes  and  armor ;  tearing  away  their  raiment,  and  fling- 
ing sword  and  spear  into  the  flames ;  throwing  hundreds  of 
corpses  into  one  promiscuous  burning,  round  which  they 
danced  with  furious  exultation ;  carrying  away  on  litters 
of  lances  and  branches  corpses  that  they  seemed  to  hallow 
as  more  than  mortal ;  every  strange  variety  of  human  pas- 
sion, wound  up  to  its  wildest  height,  was  pictured  before 
me,  and  all  was  thrown  into  the  most  living  distinctness, 
by  the  blaze  of  an  immense  central  heap  of  timber. 

The  horrid  cruelties  of  the  execution  had  been  heard  of 
in  Jerusalem,  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  roused  to 
vengeance.  With  that  imperishable  courage  which  dis- 
tinguished them  above  all  nations,  a  scorn  of  hazard,  that 
in  those  unhappy  days  only  urged  them  to  their  ruin,  they 
determined  to  make  the  enemy  pay  in  slaughter  for  the 
memory  of  their  warriors.  A  multitude,  without  a  leader, 
but  among  whom  served,  with  the  simple  spear,  manv  a 
leader,  poured  out  from  the  gates  to  attack  an  enemy  flushed 
with  victory,  and  secured  in  intrench ments  impregnable  to 
the  naked  strength  of  my  unfortunate  countrymen.  They 
divided  into  two  armies,  one  of  which  assaulted  the  lines, 


SALATHIEL.  441 

while  the  other  marched  to  the  valley  of  the  Crosses.  The 
assault  on  the  lines  was  repelled,  after  long  and  desperate 
displays  of  intrepidity.  It  was  the  intelligence  of  this 
attack  that  had  broken  up  the  banquet.  The  Romans  sus- 
tained heavy  losses  in  the  early  part  of  the  night;  their 
outposts  in  the  plain  were  sacrifice,  and  the  chief  part  of 
their  cantonments  burned. 

But  the  "army  of  vengeance,"  a  name  given  to  it  alike 
by  Jew  and  Eoman,  accomplished  its  purpose  with  dreadful 
retribution.  The  legionaries  posted  to  defend  the  valley 
were  trampled  down  and  destroyed  at  the  first  charge. 
Troop  on  troop,  sent  to  extricate  them,  met  with  the  same 
fate.  One  of  the  few  prisoners  described  the  valley,  when 
his  cohort  reached  its  verge,  as  having  the  look  of  a  living 
whirlpool,  a  vast  and  temptestuous  rolling  and  heaving  of 
infuriate  life,  into  which  the  attempt  to  descend  was  instant 
destruction.  "Every  cohort  that  entered  it,"  said  the  cen- 
turion, "was  instantly  engulfed  and  seen  no  more.  Last 
night  our  legion,  the  fifteenth,  lay  down  in  their  tents  five 
thousand  strong;  to-night  there  are  not  ten  of  us  on  the 
face  of  the  earth."  The  conflict  was  long,  and  the  last  of 
the  enemy  were  under  the  Jewish  sword,  when  I  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  fissure.  But  in  the  first  intervals  of  the 
struggle,  the  remains  of  our  tortured  people  had  been 
taken  down  from  the  accursed  tree,  tended  with  solemn 
sorrow,  and  given  up  to  their  relatives  and  friends  to  be 
borne  back  to  Jerusalem.  The  crosses  were  thrown  into  a 
heap,  and  set  on  fire;  the  fallen  legionaries  underwent  the 
last  indignities  that  could  be  inflicted  by  scorn  and  rage; 
and  when  even  those  grew  weary,  were  flung  into  the  blaz- 
ing pile. 

The  fate  of  the  noble  Eleazar  was  still  unknown ;  and  to 
obtain  the  certainty  of  his  preservation,  or  to  render  the 
last  honor  to  his  remains,  I  forced  my  way  towards  the 
spot  on  which  I  had  seen  him  awaiting  death.  But  my 
researches  were  in  vain;  the  witnesses  on  both  sides  were 
now  where  there  is  no  utterance.  Guard,  executioner,  and 
victim  were  clay;  the  battle  had  raged  chiefly  round  that 
spot,  and  the  ground,  trampled  and  deep  in  blood,  gave 
melancholy  evidence  of  the  havoc.  Daybreak  was  now  at 
hand,  and  the  sounds  of  the  enemy's  movements  made  our 
retreat  necessary.  We  heaped  the  last  Roman  corpse  on. 


442  8ALATHIEL. 

the  pile,  covered  it  with  the  broken  spears,  helmets,  and 
cuirasses  of  the  soldiery,  and  then  left  the  care  of  the  con- 
flagration to  the  wind.  From  the  valley  to  Jerusalem,. our 
way  was  crowded  with  the  enemy's  posts;  but  the  keen 
eye  and  agile  vigor  of  the  Jew  eluded  or  anticipated  the 
heavy-armed  legionaries,  by  long  experience  taught  to  dread 
the  night  in  Judea;  and  we  reached  the  Grand  Gate  of 
Sion  as  the  sun  was  shooting  his  first  rays  on  the  pinnacles 
of  the  Temple ! 

In  those  strange  and  agitated  days,  when  every  hour  pro- 
duced some  extraordinary  scene,  I  remember  none  more 
extraordinary  than  that  morning^  marching  into  the  city. 
It  was  a  triumph,  but  how  unlike  all  that  bore  the  name ! 
It  was  no  idle,  popular  pageant;  no  fantastic  and  studied 
exhibition  of  trophies  and  treasures;  no  gaudy  homage  to 
personal  ambition;  no  holiday  show  to  amuse  the  idleness, 
or  feed  the  vanity  of  a  capital  secure  in  peace  and  pam- 
pered with  the  habits  of  opulence  and  supremacy.  It  was 
at  once  a  rejoicing,  a  funeral,  a  great  act  of  atonement,  a 
popular  preservation,  and  a  proud  revenge  on  the  proudest 
of  enemies. 

On  the  night  before,  not  an  eye  had  closed  in  Jerusalem. 
The  Romans,  quick  to  turn  every  change  to  advantage,  had 
suffered  the  advance  of  our  irregular  combatants  only  until 
they  could  throw  a  force  between  them  and  the  gates.  The 
assault  was  made,  and  with  partial  success;  but  the  popu- 
lation, once  roused,  were  terrible  to  an  enemy  fighting 
against  walls  and  ramparts,  and  the  assailants  were,  after 
long  slaughter  on  both  sides,  drawn  off  at  the  sight  of 
our  columns  moving  from  the  hills.  We  thus  marched  in, 
unassailed,  a  host  of  fifty  thousand  men,  as  wild  and 
strange-looking  a  host  as  ever  trod,  to  acclamations  from 
voices  unnumbered.  Every  casement,  roof,  battlement,  and 
wall,  in  the  long  range  of  magnificent  mansions,  leading 
round  by  the  foot  of  Sion  to  Mount  Moriah,  was  crowded 
with  spectators.  Man,  woman,  and  child,  of  every  rank, 
were  there,  straining  their  eyes  and  voices,  and  waving 
hands,  weapons,  and  banners,  in  honor  of  their  deliverers 
from  the  terrors  of  massacre.  Our  motley  ranks  had 
equipped  themselves  with  the  Roman  spoils,  wherever  they 
could ;  and  among  the  ragged  vestures,  discolored  turbans, 
and  rude  pikes,  moved  masses  of  glittering  mail,  helmets  and 


8ALATH1EL.  443 

gilded  lances.  Besides  the  torn  flags  of  the  tribes,  were  toss- 
ing embroidered  standards  with  the  initials  of  the  Caesars, 
or  the  golden  image  of  some  deity,  mutilated  by  our  scorn 
of  the  idolater.  The  Jewish  trumpets  had  scarcely  sent 
up  their  chorus,  when  it  was  followed  by  the  clanging  of 
the  Roman  cymbal,  the  long  and  brilliant  tone  of  the 
clarion,  or  the  deep  roar  of  the  brass  conch  and  serpent. 
Close  upon  ranks  exulting  and  shouting  victory,  came  ranks 
bearing  the  honored  dead  on  litters,  and  bursting  into 
bitter  sorrow;  then  rolled  onward  thousands,  bounding, 
showing  the  weapons  that  they  had  torn  from  the  enemy; 
then  passed  groups  of  the  priesthood — for  they,  too,  had 
long  taken  the  common  share  in  the  defence — singing  one 
of  the  glorious  hymns  of  the  Temple;  then  again  followed 
litters,  surrounded  by  the  wives  and  children  of  the  dead, 
wrapped  in  inconsolable  grief.  Bands  of  warriors,  who  had 
none  to  care  for,  the  habitual  sons  of  the  field;  armed 
women;  chained  captives;  men  covered  with  the  stately 
dresses  of  our  higher  ranks;  biers  heaped  with  corpses; 
wagons  piled  with  armor,  tents,  the  wounded  and  the 
dead;  every  diversity  of  human  circumstance,  person,  and 
equipment,  that  belongs  to  a  state  in  which  the  elements 
of  society  are  let  loose;  in  that  march  successively  moved 
before  .the  eye.  With  the  men  were  mingled  the  captured 
horses  of  the  legionaries;  the  camels  and  dromedaries  of 
the  allies ;  herds  of  the  bull  and  buffalo,  droves  of  goats  and 
sheep;  the  whole  one  mighty  mass  of  misery,  rejoicing, 
nakedness,  splendor,  pride,  humiliation,  furious  and  savage 
life,  and  honored  and  lamented  death;  the  noblest  patriot- 
ism and  the  most  hideous  abandonment  to  the  excesses 
of  our  nature. 

As  soon  as  I  could  extricate  myself  from  the  concourse, 
I  hastened  to  appease  the  anxieties  of  my  family,  who 
had  suffered  the  general  terrors  of  the  night,  with  the  ad- 
dition of  their  own  stake  in  my  peril  and  that  of  Constan- 
tius.  My  first  inquiry  was  for  Esther.  To  my  boundless 
delight,  she  had  returned,  but  was  still  in  nervous  alarm. 
On  the  night  of  her  being  led,  through  filial  zeal,  to  meet 
Septiinius,  she  was  seized  by  a  party  of  armed  men,  and  by 
them  conveyed  to  a  dungeon,  where  questions  had  been 
put  to  her  tending  to  charge  me  at  once  with  magic  and 
correspondence  with  the  enemy.  But  this  persecution 


444  8ALATHIEL. 

ceased,  and  she  found  herself  as  unexpectedly  set  at  liberty 
as  she  had  been  seized.  At  the  gate  of  her  prison  the  min- 
strel had  met  her,  and  through  the  midst  of  the  city,  then 
in  its  fiercest  agitation,  had  with  singular  dexterity  con- 
ducted her  safely  home. 

A  service  of  this  kind  was  not  to  go  unrewarded,  and  he 
had  been  suffered  to  remain  under  our  roof  until  my  re- 
turn. But  by  that  time  he  had  made  his  ground  secure  by 
such  zealous  service,  and  so  many  graceful  qualities,  that 
even  Miriam,  sensitive  and  sagacious  as  she  was,  desired 
that  he  should  be  retained.  From  his  knowledge  of  the 
various  dialects  of  Asia,  and  his  means  of  unsuspected 
intercourse,  few  events  could  occur  of  which  he  had  not 
obtained  some  previous  knowledge.  His  adroitness  in  avail- 
ing himself  of  his  knowledge,  I  had  already  experienced 
in  my  escape  from  the  gates,  and  it  was  to  him  that  was  due 
the  flight  of  the  negroes.  A  stray  charger,  a  mask,  and  the 
common  juggler's  contrivance  of  breathing  flames,  made  up 
the  demon,  that  defrauded  the  Ethiopian  exchequer.  But 
his  dexterity  in  the  arts  of  elegance  and  taste  was  singular : 
his  pencil  was  dipped  in  nature ;  and  the  sketches  which  he 
was  perpetually  making,  of  the  wild  and  picturesque  popu- 
lation that  now  filled  our  streets,  were  incomparable.  He 
sculptured,  he  modelled,  he  wove,  he  wrought  the  gold 
filigree  and  chainwork  for  which  our  artists  were  famous, 
with  a  skill  that  the  most  famous  of  them  might  have  en- 
vied. His  knowledge  of  languages  seemed  the  natural 
result  of  his  wanderings,  but  it  was  extraordinarily  vari- 
ous and  pure.  The  dance  and  song  were  part  of  his  pro- 
fession ;  but,  from  the  little  imperfect  harp  in  use  among 
the  minstrels  he  drew  tones  that  none  other  had  ever 
delighted  me  with;  sounds  of  such  alternate  spirit  and 
sweetness,  such  tender  and  heart-reaching  power,  that  they 
were  like  an  immediate  communication  of  mind  with  mind. 
And  the  charm  of  those  acquirements  was  enhanced  by  the 
graceful  carelessness  with  which  he  made  his  estimate  of 
their  value.  To  my  questions,  how  he  could,  at  his  age, 
have  mastered  so  many  attainments,  his  reply  was,  that, 
with  his  three  teacher?,  "everything  might  be  learned ; 
common  sense  alone  exeoptod,  the  peculiar  and  rarest  gift 
of  Providenco !  Those  throe  teachers  were,  Necessity. 
Habit,  and  Time.  At  his  starting  in  life,  Necessity  had 


8ALATHIEL.  445 

told  him  that  if  he  hoped  to  live  he  must  labor ;  Habit  had 
turned  the  labor  into  an  indulgence ;  and  Time  gave  every 
man  an  hour  for  everything  unless  he  chose  to  sleep  it 
away." 

But  he  had  higher  topics ;  and  the  sagacity  of  his  views, 
in  a  crisis  that  was  made  to  shake  the  wisdom  of  the  wise, 
often  held  me  in  astonishment.  The  fate  of  Constantius 
deeply  perplexed  me.  He  had  now  been  absent  long;  and 
no  tidings  of  him  could  be  heard  among  the  returning 
warriors,  further  than  that  he  had  joined  them  in  the 
march  to  the  valley  of  the  Crosses,  had  distinguished  him- 
self by  the  intrepidity  of  his  attack  on  the  legionary  guard 
at  the  entrance,  and  was  seen  for  a  short  time,  with  a  cap- 
tured standard  in  his  hand,  leading  on  the  people.  Un- 
able to  endure  the  silent  anguish  of  those  round  me,  silent 
only  through  fear  of  giving  me  pain,  I  had  determined  on 
passing  the  walls  again,  to  seek  my  brave  and  unfortunate 
son  among  the  fallen.  But  Miriam's  quick  affection  de- 
tected me,  and,  with  weeping  prayers,  she  implored  that 
"I  should  not  risk  a  life  on  which  hung  her  own  and  those 
of  her  children." 

The  sound  of  the  lyre  came  suddenly  upon  the  air,  and 
to  dissipate  the  cloud  that  was  gathering  on  my  mind,  I 
wandered  to  a  balcony,  where,  in  the  light  of  the  evening 
sun  and  the  pleasant  breathing  of  the  breeze,  the  minstrel 
was  touching  the  strings  to  the  song  that  had  first  attracted 
me.  I  flung  my  wearied  frame  on  a  couch,  and  listened 
until  memory  became  too  keen,  and  I  waved  my  hand  to 
him  to  change  the  strain.  He  obeyed;  but  his  heart  was 
in  the  harp  no  more;  his  touch  faltered,  the  song  died 
away,  and  he  approached  me,  with  a  soothingness  of  voice 
and  manner  that  none  would  have  desired  to  resist.  "My 
prince,"  said  he,  "you  are  unhappy ;  and  if  your  sorrows  can 
be  lightened  by  any  service  of  mine,  why  not  command 
me  ?"  He  waited ;  but  I  was  too  much  absorbed  in  gloomy 
speculation.  "I  can  pass  the  gates,"  he  timidly  continued, 
"if  such  be  my  lord's  will."  I  made  a  sign  of  dissent ;  for 
the  enemy,  since  their  late  surprise,  had  begun  to  urge 
the  siege  with  increased  vigilance.  Yet  my  anxiety  for 
the  fate  of  Constantius,  and  scarcely  less  for  that  of  Naomi 
and  her  lover,  must  have  been  visible. 

He  still  lingered  nigh,  watching  the  indications  which 


446  SALATHIEL. 

inward  struggle  so  forcibly  paints  upon  the  external  man. 
"Prince  of  Naphtali,"  said  he,  in  a  steadier  tone,  "among 
my  teachers,  I  forgot  to  mention  one,  and  that  one  the 
most  effective  of  all — Self-determination !  not  the  mere 
disregard  of  personal  risk,  but  the  intrepidity  of  the  mind. 
I  loved  knowledge,  and  I  pursued  it  without  fear.  Nature 
is  boundless,  wise,  and  wonderful ;  but  prejudice  bars  up 
the  gate  of  knowledge.  The  man  who  would  learn,  must 
despise  the  timidity  that  shrinks  from  wisdom ;  as  he  must 
hate  the  tyranny  of  opinion  that  condemns  its  pursuit. 
Wisdom  is  like  beauty,  to  be  won  only  by  the  bold." 

I  looked  up  at  the  young  pronouncer  of  the  oracle.  His 
countenance,  animated  by  the  topic,  wore  an  expression  of 
power,  in  which  I  should  never  have  recognized  the  delicate 
and  dejected  being  that  he  always  appeared,  except  in  some 
moment  of  sportiveness,  come  and  gone,  with  the  quick- 
ness of  lightning.  "Minstrel,  apply  this  to  our  people,  or 
their  bigoted  and  ignorant  leaders.  I  have  no  prejudices." 

"All  men  have  them,  my  prince;  and  the  only  distinc- 
tion is,  that  in  some  they  are  mean,  dark,  and  malignant; 
in  others  they  are  lofty,  generous  and  sensitive;  yet  they 
are  but  the  stronger  for  their  nobleness.  The  mind  itself 
struggles  to  throw  off  the  vile  and  naked  fetter.  But  how 
many  forget  the  incumbrance  of  the  chain  of  gold  in  its 
preciousness !"  He  hesitated,  and  then,  with  a  still  more 
elevated  air,  again  began :  "You  despise,  for  instance,  the 
little  ingenuities  of  our  profession,  and  I  own  that,  in 
general,  they  deserve  nothing  eles.  But  if  there  were  to 
come  before  you  some  true  lover  of  nature,  a  disciple  of  that" 
sublimer  philosophy  which  holds  the  secrets  of  her  opera- 
tions; a  master  of  those  superb  influences  which  rule  the 
frame  of  things,  and  yet  more,  guide  the  fates  of  men  and 
nations;  would  not  your  prejudices — and  noble  ones  they 
are — lead  you  to  repel  the  offer  of  his  mysteries  ?" 

Thoughts,  tending  to  those  mysteries,  had  so  often  oc- 
curred to  me,  and  my  mind  was  by  its  original  constitu- 
tion so  fond  of  the  abstruse  and  the  wild,  that  I  listened 
with  interest  to  the  romance  of  philosophy.  The  figure 
before  me  was  not  unsuited  to  the  illusion ;  slight,  habited 
in  the  fanciful  dress  of  his  art,  a  tunic  of  purple  cloth, 
bound  round  the  waist  with  a  girdle;  the  turban,  a  mere 
band  of  scarlet  silk,  lightly  laid  upon  his  curls.  There  was 


SALATHIEL.  447 

in  all  this  nothing  that  was  not  to  be  seen  at  every  hour  in 
the  streets ;  but  round  his  waist,  instead  of  the  usual  girdle 
of  the  minstrels,  he  wore  to-night  a  large  golden  serpent, 
embossed  and  colored  with  a  startling  resemblance  to  life, 
and  a  broad  golden  circlet  wrought  with  devices  of  serpents 
clasping  his  brow.  The  countenance  was  vividness  itself; 
not  without  that  occasional  wandering  and  touch  of  melan- 
choly that  showed  where  early  care  has  been ;  yet  redeeming 
the  gloom  by  a  smile,  that  had  the  sweetness  and  sudden- 
ness of  the  sunbeam  across  an  April  shower. 

The  evening  music  of  the  Eoman  camps  roused  me,  as 
their  ranks  were  drawn  out  for  the  customary  exercise.  I 
turned  from  them  to  glance  upon  the  battlements,  that 
were  now  crowded  with  stragglers  of  the  tribes  inhaling 
the  air  of  the  fields,  and  like  myself  gazing  on  the  move- 
ments of  the  enemy.  The  thought  pressed  on  me,  how  soon, 
and  how  terribly,  all  this  must  end ;  what  were  the  multi- 
tudes to  be,  that  now  lived  and  breathed  beneath  my  glance  ? 
The  thought  was  too  painful.  I  turned  from  earth  to  look 
upon  the  east,  where  the  evening  star  was  lying  on  a  rosy 
cloud,  like  a  spirit  sent  to  bring  back  tidings  from  this 
troubled  world.  "There,  boy,"  said  I,  "will  your  wisdom 
tell  me  the  story  of  that  star?  Are  its  people  as  mad  as 
we  ?  Is  their  ambition  on  one  side,  and  folly  on  the  other  ? 
are  their  great  men  the  prey  of  a  populace,  and  their 
populace  the  fools  of  their  great  men  ?  Have  they  orators 
to  inflame  their  passions;  lawyers  to  beggar  them  in  pur- 
suit of  justice ;  traders,  to  cheat  them ;  heroes,  to  give  them 
laurels  at  the  price  of  blood;  and  philosophers,  to  be  the 
worst  plagues  among  them?" 

"Even  that  knowledge,"  said  the  minstrel,  "may  not  be 
beyond  the  flight  of  the  human  intellect;  but  prejudices 
must  be  first  overcome ;  we  must  learn  to  scorn  idle  names, 
defy  idle  fears,  and  use  the  powers  of  nature  to  give  us  the 
mastery  of  nature !  There  are  virtues  in  plants,  in  metals, 
even  in  words,  that,  to  seek,  alarms  the  feeble,  but  to  pos- 
sess, constitutes  the  mighty.  There  are  influences  of  the 
air,  of  the  stars,  of  even  the  most  neglected  and  despised 
things,  that  may  be  gifted  to  confer  the  sovereignty  of 
mankind." 

I  listened  with  the  passive  indulgence  of  one  listening 
under  a  spell :  his  voice  had  the  sweetness  and  the  flow  of 


448  SALAT8IEL. 

song,  and  his  language  was  made  impressive  by  gestures  of 
striking  intelligence  and  beauty.  He  pointed  to  the  skies, 
to  the  flowers,  to  the  horizon,  that  glowed  like  an  ocean  of 
amber;  and  his  fine  countenance  assumed  a  changing 
character  of  loftiness,  lovliness,  or  repose,  as  he  gazed  on 
the  sublime  or  the  serene. 

"Boy,"  said  I,  faintly,  "are  not  such  the  studies  by 
which  the  pagan  world  is  made  evil?" 

He  smiled.  "Xo !  Light  is  not  further  from  darkness, 
than  wisdom  from  the  superstition  of  the  pagan.  Home  is 
filled  with  the  madness  that  falls  upon  idolatry  for  its  curse 
— that  has  fallen  since  the  beginning  of  the  world — that 
shall  fall,  until  its  end.  She  is  the  slave  of  ghostly  fear. 
This  hour,  among  the  proudest,  boldest,  wisest,  within  the 
borders  of  paganism,  there  lives  not  a  man  unenslaved  by 
the  lowest  delusion.  The  soothsayer,  the  interpreter  of 
dreams,  the  sacrificer,  the  seller  of  the  dust  of  the  dead,  the 
miserable  pretender  to  magic;  those  are  the  true  rulers  of 
the  haughty  empire — those  are  the  sceptre-bearers  to  whom 
the  emperor  is  a  menial ;  those  are  the  men  of  might,  who 
laugh  at  authority,  set  counsel  at  naught,  and  are  sapping 
the  foundations  of  the  state,  were  they  deep  as  the  centre, 
by  sapping  the  vigor  of  the  national  mind." 

While  he  spoke,  he  was,  with  apparent  unconsciousness, 
sketching  some  outlines  on  one  of  the  large  marble  slabs  of 
the  wall.  My  eyes  had  followed  the  sun,  until  the  balcony, 
darkened  by  an  old  vine,  was  in  the  depth  of  twilight.  To 
my  surprise,  the  marble  began  to  be  covered  with  fire,  but 
fire  of  the  softest  and  most  silvery  hue.  The  surprise  was 
increased  by  seeing  this  glow-worm  lustre  kindle  into  form. 
I  saw  the  portrait  of  Constantius;  and  by  his  side,  Naomi 
and  her  lover.  As  the  lines  grew  clearer  still,  I  saw  them 
in  chains  and  in  a  dungeon !  The  extraordinary  information 
which  the  minstrel  had  the  means  of  obtaining  made  me 
demand,  in  real  alarm,  whether  the  picture  told  the  truth ; 
and  that,  if  it  did,  I  should  be  instantly  acquainted  with 
whatever  might  enable  me  to  save  them. 

"And  trifles  like  those  fires  can  excite  your  astonish- 
ment ?"  he  replied.  "What  if  I  were  to  tell  you  of  wonders 
such  as  it  has  not  entered  into  the  mind  of  the  world  to 
imagine;  yet,  which  are  before  us  in  every  hour  of  our 
lives,  are  mingled  with  everything,  are  grasped  in  our  in- 


SALATHIEL.  449 

sensate  hands,  are  trodden  by  our  careless  feet?  See  these 
crystals" — he  scraped  a  portion  of  the  nitre  exuding  from 
the  wall — "in  these  is  hidden  a  power  to  which  the  strength 
of  man  is  but  air — to  which  the  bulwarks  round  us  are  but 
as  the  leaf  on  the  breeze — at  whose  command  armies  shall 
vanish,  mountains  shake,  empires  perish — the  whole  face 
of  society  shall  change;  yet,  by  a  sublime  contradiction, 
combining  the  greatest  evil  with  the  greatest  good — the 
most  lavish  waste  of  life,  with  the  most  signal  provision  for 
human  security  I" 

"Look  on  this  metal,"  said  he,  pointing  to  some  of  the 
leaden  ornaments  of  the  balcony;  "and  think,  what  is  the 
worth  of  human  judgment.  Who  would  give  the  pearl  or 
the  diamond,  the  silver  or  the  gold,  for  this  discolored 
dross  ?  Yet,  here  is  the  king  of  metals — the  king  of  earth ; 
for  it  can  create,  subdue,  and  rule,  all  that  earth  pro- 
duces of  power.  Within  this  dross  are  treasures  hidden, 
more  than  earth  could  buy — truth,  knowledge  and  freedom. 
It  can  give  the  dead  a  new  life,  and  the  living  a  new  im- 
mortality. It  can  stoop  the  haughtiest  usurper  that  ever 
sinned  against  man,  into  the  lowest  scorn.  It  can  raise 
the  humblest  son  of  obscurity  into  pre-eminence ;  and,  even 
without  breaking  in  upon  the  seclusion  that  he  loves,  set 
him  forth,  crowned,  to  every  future  age,  with  involuntary 
glory.  It  can  flash  light  upon  the  darkest  corners  of  the 
earth;  light  never  to  be  extinguished.  It  can  civilize  the 
barbarian;  it  can  pour  perpetual  increase  of  happiness, 
strength,  and  liberty,  round  the  civilized.  It  can  make  feet 
to  itself,  that  walk  through  the  dungeon-walls ;  wings  that 
the  uttermost  limits  of  the  world  cannot  weary;  eyes,  to 
which  the  darkest  concealments  of  evil  are  naked  as  the  day ; 
intellect,  that  darts  through  the  universe,  and  solves  the 
mightiest  secrets  of  nature  and  of  mind !  But  in  it,  too,  is 
a  fearful  power  of  ruin."  He  gazed  on  me  with  a  glance 
that  seemed  to  shoot  fire.  "Holding  the  keys  of  opulence 
and  empire,  it  can  raise  men  and  nations  to  the  most  daz- 
zling height;  but  it  can  stain,  delude,  and  madden  them, 
until  they  become  a  worse  than  pestilence  to  human 
nature." 

While  he  spoke  his  form  assumed  a  grandeur  commen- 
surate to  his  lofty  topics ;  the  power  of  his  voice  awoke  with 
the  awaking  power  of  his  mind.  My  faculties  succumbed 


450  SALATHIEL. 

under  his  presence,  and  I  could  only  exclaim:  "More  of 
those  wonders;  give  me  more  of  those  noble  evidences  of 
the  supremacy  of  man  I" 

"Man !"  said  my  strange  enlightener ;  "look  upon  him  as 
he  is,  and  what  more  helpless  thing  moves  under  the  can- 
opy of  heaven?  The  prey  of  folly,  the  creature  of  acci- 
dent, the  sport  of  nature;  the  surge  whirls  him  where  it 
will ;  the  wind  scorns  his  bidding ;  the  storm  crushes  him ; 
the  lightning  smites  him.  But  look  upon  man  when 
knowledge  has  touched  him  with  her  sceptre."  The  circlet 
on  his  brow  seemed  to  quiver  and  sparkle  with  inward 
lustre,  the  golden  serpent  that  clasped  his  robe  seemed  to 
writhe  and  revolve.  I  felt  like  one  under  fascination.  A 
strange  sense  of  danger  thrilled  through  me,  yet  mixed 
with  a  dreamy  and  luxurious  sense  of  enjoyment.  The 
air  seemed  heavy  with  fragrance,  and  I  sat  listening  in 
powerless  homage  to  a  lip  moulded  by  beauty  and  dis- 
dain. 

"Man,  the  sport  of  nature !"  said  he,  pointing  to  a  bead 
of  dew  that  hung  glittering  on  a  leaf  of  the  vine.  "Say 
man,  the  sovereign  of  nature!  With  but  so  feeble  an  in- 
strument as  this  dew-drop  he  might  control  and  scorn  the 
wind  and  the  wave!  Or,  would  you  defy  the  storm  in 
darkness,  without  sun  or  star  speed  through  the  unknown 
ocean,  and  add  a  new  world  to  the  old  ?  Within  this  frag- 
ment lies  the  secret."  He  struck  off  a  brown  splinter  from 
the  stone  of  the  balcony.  "Or  would  you  behold  regions 
to  which  the  stars  that  now  bkze  above  our  heads  are  but 
the  portal ;  kingdoms  of  light  never  penetrated  by  mortal 
vision;  generations  of  worlds?  By  what  splendid  influ- 
ence, think  you,  that  the  miracle  is  to  be  wrought  ?  Even 
by  this  dust !"  He  took  up  a  few  grains  of  the  sand  at 
his  feet  and  poured  them  into  my  robe.  He  saw  his  time. 
"Would  you,"  exclaimed  he,  "be  master  of  those  magnificent 
secrets?  But  bind  this  girdle  round  you,  and  invoke  the 
name  that  I  shall  name." 

I  shuddered;  the  arts  of  the  diviner  flashed  upon  me. 
But  I  had  listened  too  long  not  to  be  enfeebled  by  the 
temptation.  I  felt  the  passion  which  lost  us  paradise — the 
thirst  of  forbidden  knowledge.  Still  I  resisted.  The 
young  deceiver  pressed  me  with  more  distinct  promises. 
"In  your  fate/'  said  he,  "the  fate  of  your  nation  is  bound 


SALATHIEL.  451 

up.  Has  it  not  been  declared  that  a  great  deliverer  is  to 
come,  by  whom  the  face  of  the  enemies  of  Judah  is  to  be 
withered,  and  the  sceptre  of  the  earth  given  to  the  hand 
of  Israel  ?  Pledge  yourself  to  me,  and  be  that  deliverer ! 
You  shrink!  know  then — that,  even  while  I  speak,  every 
creature  of  your  blood  is  in  chains;  your  house  is  deso- 
late; your  fortunes  are  overthrown;  you  are  cut  off  root 
and  branch ;  you  are  exiled — desperate — undone  !" 

I  felt  a  dreadful  certainty  that  his  words  were  true. 
My  heart  bled  at  the  picture  of  ruin.  I  wavered.  The 
temptation  tingled  through  my  veins.  "What  were  the 
sacrifice  of  myself,"  thought  I,  "wretched  and  sentenced 
as  I  was,  to  the  preservation  of  beings  made  for  happi- 
ness? Or  was  I  to  hesitate,  let  the  risk  be  what  it  might, 
when  virtue,  patriotism,  and  boundless  knowledge  were 
added  to  that  preservation?  For  the  trivial  honors  that 
man  could  give  to  man,  the  highest  intellects  of  the  earth 
had  been  influenced;  but  the  honors  of  the  restorer  of 
Judah  were  an  immortal  theme — the  old  splendors  of  tri- 
umph were  pronounced  vain  and  dim,  the  old  supremacy 
of  thrones  weakness,  to  the  domination  and  grandeur  of 
the  sovereign  who  should  sway  the  returning  tribes  of 
Sion." 

The  figure  approached  me,  and  in  a  voice  that  sank  with 
subtle  force  through  every  nerve,  pronounced  the  vow  that 
I  was  to  utter.  I  was  terror-struck ;  a  cloud  came  over  my 
sight;  strange  lights  moved  and  glittered  before  me.  I 
felt  the  unspeakable  dread  that  my  faculties  should  be- 
tray me,  and  that  I  should  unconsciously  yield  to  a  temp- 
tation which  yet  I  had  no  strength  to  withstand. 

While  I  sat  helpless,  and  almost  blind,  I  was  aroused 
by  a  majestic  voice.  I  looked  up.  Eleazar  was  at  my  side. 
I  would  have  flung  myself  into  his  arms;  I  would  have 
cast  myself  at  his  feet,  but  an  indescribable  sensation 
told  me  that  my  noble  brother  was  to  be  so  approached 
no  more.  "Well  and  wisely  hast  thou  resisted,"  were  his 
solemn  words,  "for  in  thee  are  the  last  fortunes  of  thy 
people.  Judea  must  fall;  but  fallen  with  her  as  thou 
shaft  be,  and  desolate,  despairing,  and  wild  as  shall  be 
thy  sojourn,  the  last  blow  of  ruin  to  both  would  be  given, 
hadst  thou  yielded  to  the  adversary."  I  glanced  at  the 
minstrel.  His  visage  was  horror;  he  stood  deformed,  like 


452  SALATHIEL. 

one  dead  in  the  moment  of  torture.  I  closed  my  eyes 
against  the  hideous  spectacle.  A  sound  of  hurrying  steps 
made  me  open  them,  after  how  long  an  interval  I  know 
not.  I  was  alone ! 


CHAPTEK  LXIV. 

THE  sounds  of  the  footsteps  thickened.  Overwhelmed 
as  I  was  by  the  trial  that  my  mind  had  just  undergone, 
I  sat  nearly  unconscious  of  external  things,  till  I  was 
roused  by  a  strong  grasp  from  behind,  and  saw  myself 
surrounded  by  armed  men.  I  was  passively  bound ;  and,  in- 
different to  fortune,  was  flung  into  a  litter,  and  conveyed 
to  the  Tower  of  Antonia.  In  this  vast  circle  of  fortifica- 
tions, the  citadel  of  the  former  Roman  garrison,  the  Jew- 
ish government  was  now  held,  or  rather  Onias  lorded  it 
over  the  population.  He  had  discovered  my  dwelling; 
and  the  first  fruit  of  his  knowledge  was  my  seizure  and 
that  of  my  family.  He  was  now  playing  the  last  throw 
of  that  desperate  game  to  which  his  life  had  been  given. 
Power  was  within  his  reach,  yet  there  I  stood  to  thwart 
him  once  more,  and  he  was  resolved  to  extinguish  the  first 
source  of  his  danger.  Yet  I  was  popular,  and  with  all  his 
daring  he  desired  to  cast  the  odium  of  my  death  on  the 
Sanhedrin.  I  was  to  be  tried  on  the  ground  of  treating 
with  the  enemy ;  my  family  were  seized,  to  shake  my  cour- 
age by  their  peril;  and  I  was  to  be  forced  to  an  igno- 
minious confession,  as  the  price  of  saving  their  lives. 

At  the  mouth  of  a  dungeon  a  torch  was  put  into  my 
hands.  I  was  left  to  make  my  way,  and  the  iron  door 
was  closed  that  had  shut  out  many  a  wretch  from  light 
and  life.  At  the  bottom  of  the  steps  I  found  a  man  sleep- 
ing tranquilly  on  the  stone.  The  glare  of  the  torch  dis- 
turbed him;  he  started  up,  and  looking  in  my  face,  ex- 
claimed in  the  buoyant  and  cheerful  tone  by  which  I  should 
have  recognized  him  under  any  disguise,  "By  Jupiter!  I 
knew  that  we  were  to  meet!  If  I  had  to  sleep  to-night 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  I  should  wager  my  scimitar  to  a 
straw  that  our  bodies  would  be  found  lying  side  by  side. 
I  presume  we  mount  the  scaffold  together  to-morrow  for 
the  benefit  of  Jewish  morality.  Well,  then,  since  our  fates 


8ALATHIEL.  453 

are  to  be  joined,  let  us  begin  by — supping  together."  It 
was  the  captain !  He  laid  his  store  on  the  ground ;  but  I 
was  heartsick,  and  could  only  question  him  of  Naomi,  and 
the  misfortune  which  had  betrayed  him  into  the  hands  of 
the  tyrant.  "Our  history  is  the  briefest  in  the  world," 
was  the  answer.  "We  found  ourselves  pursued,  and  we 
fled.  The  pursuers  followed  faster  than  my  fair  mistress 
could  run,  or  I  could  carry  her.  So  we  were  overtaken 
before  we  could  clear  the  rocks ;  and  our  captors  were  forth- 
with carrying  us  to  the  Koman  camp,  in  great  joy  at  their 
prize.  But  it  was  intended  to  be  an  unlucky  day  for  the 
legions.  We  came  across  a  Jewish  troop,  headed  by  a  fine 
bold  fellow,  who  dashed  upon  the  captors,  and  fluttered 
them  like  a  flight  of  pigeons.  Nothing  could  promise  bet- 
ter than  the  affair;  for  my  new  captor  turned  out  to  be 
an  old  friend,  and  one  of  the  most  gallant  that  ever  com- 
manded a  trireme.  Many  a  day  the  Cypriot  and  I  chased 
(Nemesis  forgive  us  for  it!)  the  pirates  through  the  Cy- 
clades :  I,  however,  did  not  know  then  what  pleasant  per- 
sonages the  brothers  of  the  free-trade  might  be."  He 
smiled;  and  the  sigh  that  followed  the  smile  told  how 
little  he  had  since  found  to  compensate  for  his  old  ad- 
ventures. 

"A  Cypriot.  Your  captor  was  my  son,  my  Constantius !" 
I  exclaimed. 

"The  very  man.  When  he  had  found  me  out  under  my 
Arab  trappings,  he  was  all  hospitality,  and  invited  me  to 
share  the  honors  of  his  princely  father's  house.  His  troop 
soon  scattered,  every  man  to  his  home;  and  I  was  gazing 
at  the  head  of  an  incomparable  knave  and  early  acquaint- 
ance, Jonathan,  nailed  up  over  the  gate  for  some  villainy, 
which  he  had  not  been  as  adroit  as  usual  in  turning  to 
profit;  when  Constantius,  myself,  and  that  lovely  girl, 
whom  I  shall  never  see  more" — he  stooped  his  brow  at  the 
'ecollection — "were  seized  by  the  guard,  separated,  and  sent, 
I  suppose,  alike  to  the  dungeon." 

Shortly  after  midnight  I  was  brought  before  the  tri- 
bunal. Onias  was  my  accuser,  and  I  was  astonished  at  the 
dexterity,  number  and  plausibility  of  his  charges — magic, 
treachery,  the  betrayal  of  my  army,  the  refusal  to  push 
the  defeated  enemy  to  a  surrender,  lest  by  the  cessation  of 
the  war  my  ambition  should  be  deprived  of  its  object ;  and 


454  SAL  ATE  I  EL. 

last,  and  most  astonishing,  the  assassination  of  my  kinsman 
Jubal,  through  fear  of  his  testimony ! 

I  made  my  defence  with  the  fearlessness  of  one  weary 
of  life.  Some  of  the  charges  I  explained ;  others  I  prompt- 
ly repelled.  To  the  imputation  of  treachery,  I  answered 
in  a  single  sentence — "Read  that  correspondence  with  the 
enemy,  and  judge  which  is  the  traitor."  I  took  the  Egyp- 
tian's papers  from  my  sash,  and  flung  them  on  the  table. 
But  the  judges  themselves  were  in  visible  perplexity :  they 
looked  over  the  papers,  held  them  to  the  lamps,  and  ex- 
amined them  in  all  imaginable  ways,  until  the  chief  of  the 
Sanhedrin  rising,  with  a  frown  that  fixed  all  eyes  on  me, 
flung  the  papers  at  my  feet.  The  deepest  silence  was  round 
me,  as  I  took  up  the  rejected  proofs.  To  my  astonish- 
ment, they  were  utterly  blank ! 

I  now  recollected  that  on  my  entrance  I  had  been 
pressed  upon  by  the  crowd.  In  that  moment,  the  false 
papers  must  have  been  substituted.  I  saw  the  Egyptian 
gliding  away  from  the  side  of  Onias,  and  saw  by  the  coun- 
tenance of  my  accuser  that  the  tidings  of  the  robbery  had 
just  reached  him.  He  now  declaimed  against  me  with 
renewed  energy.  He  was  eloquent  by  nature;  the  habit 
of  public  affairs  had  given  his  speaking  that  character 
of  practical  vigor  and  reality  which  is  essential  to  great 
public  impression;  his  fortunes  hung  in  the  scale — per- 
haps his  life;  and  he  poured  out  the  whole  collected  im- 
pulse in  a  torrent  of  the  boldest  and  most  nervous  decla- 
mation upon  my  head.  Still  my  name  was  high ;  my  rank 
was  not  to  be  lightly  assailed ;  my  national  services  were 
felt;  and  even  the  corrupt  judicature  summoned  for  my 
ruin  were  not  so  insensible  to  popular  feeling  as  to  vio- 
late the  forms  of  law  to  crush  me.  The  trial  lasted  during 
the  night.  I  had  the  misery  to  see  my  wife,  my  children, 
Constantius,  Naomi,  my  domestics,  my  fellow  warriors, 
every  human  being  whom  there  was  a  chance  of  perplex- 
ing, or  terrifying  into  testimony  brought  forward  against 
me.  As  a  last  resource,  on  the  secret  suggestion  of  the 
Egyptian,  who  had  his  own  revenge  to  satisfy,  the  ad- 
ventures of  the  pirates'  cavern  were  declaimed  upon;  and 
the  captain  was  summoned  from  his  cell.  His  figure  and 
noble  physiognomy  made  him  conspicuous,  and  a  general 
murisur  of  admiration  arose  on  his  advance  to  the  tribunal. 


SALATHIEL.  455 

Miriam  was  at  my  side.  I  felt  her  tremble;  her  color 
went  and  came;  and  she  drank  in  every  tone  of  his  voice 
with  an  intense  anxiety.  But  when,  in  answer  to  the 
questions  of  Onias,  he  detailed  his  story,  and  in  answer  to 
the  charge  of  his  being  an  enemy,  denied  that  he  was  either 
Eoman  or  Greek,  Miriam's  spirit  hung  upon  every  word. 

"A  soldier's  best  pedigree/'  said  he,  concluding,  "is 
his  sword.  I  know  no  more  than  that  I  was  reared  in  the 
house  of  a  Cypriot  noble,  to  whom  I  had  been  brought  by 
a  trader  of  Alexandria.  My  protector  made  me  a  sailor, 
and  would  have  made  me  his  heir;  but  Koman  insolence 
disgusted  me,  and  I  left  myicommand,  bearing  with  me  no 
other  inheritance  than  a  heart  too  proud  for  slavery,  my 
scimitar,  and  this  signet,  which  I  have  worn  from  my  in- 
fancy." He  took  from  his  bosom  a  large  sculptured  gem, 
fastened  to  a  chain  of  pearls.  Miriam  put  forth  her 
trembling  hand  for  it,  read,  with  a  starting  eye,  her  own 
name  and  mine,  and  exclaiming,  "My  son !  my  son !"  tot- 
tered forward,  and  fell  fainting  into  his  arms. 

I  flew  to  them  both,  and  never  did  a  woe-worn  heart 
beat  with  keener  joy  than  when  I  too  clasped  my  son,  my 
long-lost,  my  first-born.  Yet  the  cloud  gathered  instantly. 
Was  he  not  come  to  take  the  earliest  embrace  of  his 
parents,  in  the  crisis  of  their  fate — the  promise  of  an 
unbroken  lineage,  found  only  in  the  day  when  my  coun- 
try was  in  the  jaws  of  destruction;  the  father  awaking 
to  those  loveliest  and  happiest  ties  of  our  nature,  only 
when  the  axe  of  the  traitor,  or  the  sword  of  the  enemy, 
was  uplifted  to  cut  them  asunder  forever;  the  prince,  the 
patriot,  the  warrior,  summoned  to  the  first  exercise  of  his 
noble  rights  and  duties — when  in  the  next  hour  a  heap  of 
dust  might  be  all  that  was  left  of  his  family  and  his  peo- 
ple! 

I  clung  to  my  son  with  a  fondness  thirsting  to  repay  its 
long  arrear.  His  desertion  in  the  hands  of  strangers; 
the  early  hardships;  the  loss  of  a  mother's  love  and  a 
father's  protection;  the  insults  and  privations  that  the 
straggler  through  the  world  must  bear;  the  desperate  haz- 
ards of  his  life;  even  the  errors  into  which  necessity  and 
circumstance  had  driven  him,  rose  up  in  judgment  against 
me;  I  reproached  myself  even  for  the  accident,  perhaps 
the  irresistible  accident,  that  gave  my  infant  to  the  roar- 


456  8ALATHIEL. 

ing  waters.  But  the  tears  and  exclamations  of  the  people 
round  us  recalled  us.  I  might  then  have  walked  from 
the  hall,  without  any  man's  daring  to  lay  a  hand  upon 
me;  for  the  public  feeling,  touched  by  the  discovery  of 
my  son,  was  loud  for  my  instant  liberation.  But  I  was  not 
to  be  satisfied  with  this  imperfect  justice,  and  I  demanded 
that  the  tribunal  should  proceed. 

The  presence  of  my  family  was  felt  too  strong  for  the 
fears  of  my  persecutor,  and  he  demanded  that  they  should 
retire.  An  impression,  like  the  warning  of  a  superior 
spirit,  instantly  told  me  that  the  parting  was  forever ! 
The  same  impression  was  evidently  on  their  minds,  for 
their  parting  was  like  an  eternal  farewell.  The  whole 
group  at  once  gathered  round  me!  Constantius  and  Sa- 
lome knelt  before  me  for  final  forgiveness.  My  son  and 
his  betrothed  bowed  their  heads  to  ask  my  blessing.  Mir- 
iam and  Esther  came  last,  and  silently  hung  upon  my 
neck,  dissolved  in  tears  of  matchless  anguish  and  love.  I 
lifted  my  eyes  and  heart  to  Heaven;  and,  though  op- 
pressed with  the  terrible  conviction  of  my  own  fate,  put 
forth  my  hands,  and  blessed  them  in  the  name  of  the 
God  of  Israel.  I  saw  them  pass  away.  My  firmness  could 
bear  no  more:  I  wept  aloud.  But,  with  my  sorrow  there 
was  given  a  hope — a  light  across  the  gloom  of  my  soul. 
When .  I  saw  their  stately  forms  solemnly  move  along 
through  the  fierce  and  guilty  multitude,  and  the  distant 
portal  shut  upon  them,  I  thought  of  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  the  great  patriarch,  passing  within  the  door  of  the 
ark  from  the  midst  of  a  condemned  world. 

The  night  wore  on ;  the  people,  exhausted  by  the  length 
of  a  trial,  protracted  for  the  purpose,  had  left  the  hall 
nearly  empty ;  and  Onias,  now  secure  of  a  tribunal  that 
dreaded  nothing  but  the  public  eye,  urged  the  decision. 
The  judges  were  his  creatures,  through  corruption  or  fear ; 
his  followers  alone  remained.  Sure  to  be  crushed,  the 
fluctuations  of  hope  were  gone ;  and  I  listened  to  the  pow- 
erful and  high-wrought  harangue  of  my  enemy  without  a 
feeling  but  of  admiration  for  his  extraordinary  powers,  or 
of  pity  for  their  perverter.  While  he  stood,  drinking  in 
with  ears  and  eyes  the  wonder  and  homage  of  the  audi- 
ence, I  myself  called  for  sentence.  "Scorning,"  said  I, 
"to  reason  with  understandings  that  will  not  comprehend, 


8ALATHIEL.  457 

and  consciences  that  cannot  feel,  I  appeal  from  the  man 
of  blood  to  the  God  of  mercies;  from  the  worse  than  man 
of  blood,  from  the  corrupter  of  justice,  to  HIM  who  shall 
judge  the  judge;  to  Him,  who  shall  yet  pass  sentence  on 
all,  in  the  sight  of  earth  and  heaven." 

The  chief  of  the  tribunal  rose;  my  condemnation  was 
upon  a  lip  quivering  and  pale:  he  had  already  in  his 
hand  the  border  of  the  robe  which  he  was  to  rend,  in 
sign  that  the  accused  was  rent  from  Israel.  A  confusion 
at  the  portal  checked  him ;  and  the  words  resounded,. "Shed 
not  the  innocent  blood."  The  voice  was  as  a  voice  from 
the  sepulchre,  melancholy,  but  searching  to  the  very  heart. 
The  guard  gave  way,  and  a  man,  covered  from  head  to 
foot  with  a  sepulchral  garment,  rushed  up  the  immense 
hall.  At  the  foot  of  the  tribunal  he  flung  off  the  garment, 
and  disclosed  a  face  and  form  that  well  might  have  ranked 
him  among  the  dwellers  of  the  grave. 

"I  have  come  from  the  tombs,"  exclaimed  he:  "I  had 
lain  down  to  die  in  the  resting  place  of  my  fathers,  in 
the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  A  man  in  white  raiment  stood 
beside  me,  and  commanded  me  to  come,  and  bear  witness 
of  the  truth.  The  Eomans  were  round  me — he  led  me 
through  them ;  the  battlements  were  before  me — he  led  me 
through  them;  riot,  fury,  and  frenzy  stood  in  my  path 
through  your  city — he  led  me  through  them ;  and  lo !  here 
I  come,  and  proclaim  by  his  command,  'Shed  not  the  in- 
nocent blood.' ''  Onias  stood  paralyzed.  No  memory  of 
mine  could  recall  the  haggard  features  of  the  stranger. 
The  chief  of  the  tribunal,  in  manifest  confusion,  required 
his  name.  "My  name,"  he  answered,  with  a  wild  wave  of 
his  hand,  "is  nothing — air — is  gone.  What  I  was,  is  past ; 
what  I  shall  be,  the  tomb  alone  must  tell ;  but  what  I  am, 
is  the  witness,  commissioned  to  proclaim  Onias  the  be- 
trayer of  the  blood  of  your  nobles — the  slave  of  Eome — 
the  traitor  to  his  country,  the  apostate  to  his  religion." 
All  hands  were  lifted  up  in  astonishment.  Onias,  sick  at 
heart,  made  a  feeble  gesture  of  denial.  "Dares  the  traitor 
deny  his  own  handwriting  ?"  was  the  indignant  reply. 
"Let  him  read  his  treason,  committed  within  these  twelve 
hours."  He  stalked  over  to  the  guilty  Onias,  and  held 
his  letters  to  the  Roman  general  before  his  shrinking  eye. 

While  my  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  portal  through  which 


458  BALATHIEL. 

had  vanished  my  last  hope  of  happiness,  I  was  startled 
by  an  outcry;  and  I  saw  the  gleam  of  steel  at  my  throat. 
Onias,  in  despair  of  smiting  me  by  the  arm  of  the  law, 
had  made  a  frenzied  effort  to  destroy  me  by  his  own. 
Quick  as  lightning  the  stranger  threw  himself  between  us, 
and  grasped  the  assassin;  they  struggled — they  were  in- 
volved in  the  large  and  loose  robe,  and  fell  together.  I 
sprang  forward  to  separate  them.  But  the  deed  was  done. 
Onias  lay  rolling  upon  the  ground;  the  dagger  was  in 
the  stranger's  grasp,  and  it  was  crimson  to  the  hilt.  I 
could  feel  no  vindictiveness  against  the  dying,  and  I  of- 
fered him  my  hand.  He  threw  a  violent  expression  of 
scorn  into  his  stiffening  features,  and  cried  at  convulsive 
intervals — "No  compassion — no  hypocrisy  for  me — I  die 
as  I  lived.  I  hated  you,  for  you  thwarted  me.  You  have 
the  best  of  the  game  now;  but  if  I  had  lived  till  to-mor- 
row, I  should  have  been  lord  of  Jerusalem.  The  Eomans 
will  settle  all.  You  and  yours  would  have  been  in  my 
power.  You  shall  perish.  That  boy  is  your  son;  he  was 
brought  to  me  in  his  infancy;  I  hated  you  as  my  rival; 
and  I  swore  that  you  should  never  see  your  first-born 
again.  I  sold  him  to  the  Alexandrian.  You  shall  not  live 
to  triumph  over  me;  your  dungeon  shall  be  your  tomb; 
another  night,  and  you  sleep  no  more,  or  sleep  forever.'' 
He  gathered  his  mantle  over  his  face  and  died. 

His  followers,  after  the  first  consternation,  demanded 
vengeance  on  the  stranger.  But  it  was  now  my  time  to 
protect  him,  and  I  declared  that  no  man  should  strike  him 
but  through  me.  "This  is  noble  and  generous,"  inter- 
rupted ha,  "but  useless.  I  too  am  dying;  but  I  rejoice 
that  I  am  dying  by  the  wound  meant  for  you.  Have  I  at 
last  atoned?  Have  you  forgotten?  Can  you  forgive? 
Then,  prince  of  Naphtali,  lay  your  hand  upon  this  heart, 
and  while  it  beats,  believe  that  there  you  are  honored.  Time 
has  changed  me;  misery  has  extinguished  the  last  trace 
of  what  I  was.  Farewell,  my  kinsman,  friend,  chieftain; 
and  remember — Jubal." 

I  caught  him  in  my  arms;  my  heart  melted  at  his  suf- 
ferings— his  generous  attachment — his  heroic  devotion — 
his  deep  repentance.  "You  have  more  than  atoned,"  I 
exclaimed ;  "you  are  more  than  forgiven.  Live,  my  manly, 
kind,  high-hearted  Jubal ;  live  for  the  honor  of  your  race 


SALATHIEL.  459 

— of  your  country — of  human  nature."  He  looked  up 
with  a  smile  of  gratitude,  and  faintly  uttering,  "I  die 
happy/'  breathed  in  my  arms  the  last  breath  of  one  of  the 
most  gallant  spirits  that  ever  left  the  world. 

Loud  shouts  abroad,  and  blazes  that  colored  the  roof 
with  long  columns  of  lurid  light,  put  an  end  to  the  de- 
liberation of  the  tribunal.  The  enemy  were  assaulting  the 
citadel,  and  the  mockery  of  justice  was  summarily  closed 
by  returning  me  to  my  dungeon,  to  await  times  fitter  for 
the  calmness  of  judicial  murder.  The  assault  continued 
for  some  hours;  but  to  my  cell,  sunk  in  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  fortress,  day  never  came;  and  I  lay,  still 
buried  in  darkness,  when  I  heard  sounds  like  the  blows 
of  pickaxes;  and  from  time  to  time  the  fall  of  heavy 
bodies,  followed  by  a  roar.  The  air  grew  close;  and,  chill 
as  the  dungeon  had  been,  I  experienced  a  sensation  of  heat 
still  more  painful.  The  heat  increased  rapidly.  I  tried 
to  avoid  it  by  shifting  my  place  in  the  vault.  But  the  evil 
was  not  to  be  baffled;  the  air  grew  hotter  and  hotter.  I 
flung  myself  on  the  pavement  to  draw  a  cool  breath  from 
the  stones;  they  began  to  glow  under  me.  I  ran  to  the 
door  of  the  dungeon;  it  was  iron,  and  the  touch  scorched 
me.  I  shouted,  I  tore  at  the  walls,  at  the  massive  rings  in 
the  floor,  less  perhaps  from  the  hope  of  thus  escaping  than 
from  the  vague  eagerness  to  deaden  present  pain  by  vio- 
lent effort.  But  I  tore  up  the  pavement,  and  broke  down 
the  fragments  of  the  walls  in  vain.  The  walls  themselves 
began  to  split  with  the  heat;  smoke  eddied  through  the 
crevices  of  the  immense  stones,  and  the  dungeon  was  filled 
with  fiery  vapor.  My  raiment  encumbered  me;  I  tore  it 
away,  and  on  the  floor  saw  it  fall  in  ashes.  I  felt  the  ago- 
nies of  suffocation ;  and  at  last,  helpless  and  hopeless, 
threw  myself  down,  like  my  raiment,  to  be  consumed. 

I  had  scarcely  touched  the  stone  when  I  felt  it  shake 
and  vibrate  from  side  to  side.  A  hollow  noise  like  distant 
thunder  echoed  through  the  vault;  the  walls  shook,  col- 
lapsed, opened,  and  I  was  plunged  down  a  chasm,  and 
continued  rolling  for  some  moments  in  a  whirl  of  stones, 
dust,  earth,  and  smoke. 

When  it  subsided,  I  found  myself  lying  on  the  green 
sward,  in  noonday,  at  the  bottom  of  a  valley,  with  the 
tower  of  Antonia  covered  with  the  legionaries,  five  hun- 


460  SALATHIEL. 

dred  feet  above  me.  The  remnants  of  huge  fires  round 
pillars  of  timber  explained  the  mystery.  The  enemy  had 
undermined  the  wall;  and,  by  burning  the  props,  had 
brought  it  down  at  the  moment  of  the  assault.  Onias,  the 
planner  of  the  attack,  for  which  he  was  to  be  repaid  with 
the  procuratorship  of  Judea,  had  placed  me  in  the  spot 
where  ruin  was  to  begin,  and  cheered  his  dying  moments 
with  the  certainty  that,  acquitted  or  not,  there  I  must  be 
undone ! 

I  long  lay  contused  and  powerless  beside  my  dungeon! 
But  the  twilight  air  revived  me;  and  I  crept  through 
the  deserted  intrenchments  of  the  enemy,  until  I  reached 
one  of  the  gates;  where  I  announced  my  name,  and  was 
received  with  rejoicings.  The  heart  of  my  countrymen 
was  heroic  to  the  last,  and  deeply  was  its  heroism  now  de- 
manded; for  the  whole  force  of  the  enemy  had  been 
brought  up  for  final  assault;  and  when  I  entered,  every 
portion  of  the  walls  was  the  scene  of  unexampled  battle. 
Where  the  ground  suffered  the  approach  of  troops,  the 
enemy's  columns,  headed  by  archers  and  slingers  innumer- 
able, rushed  to  the  rampart,  climbing  up  the  breaches,  with 
their  shields  covering  their  heads.  Against  the  towers  were 
wheeled  towers  filled  with  troops,  who  descended  on  the 
wall  and  fought  us  hand  to  hand.  We  felt  the  perpetual 
blows  of  the  battering  rams,  shaking  the  battlements  under 
our  feet.  Where  the  ground  repelled  direct  assault,  there 
the  military  machines  poured  havoc,  and  those  were  the 
most  dreaded  of  all. 

The  skill  of  man,  exerted  for  ages  on  the  arts  of  com- 
pendious slaughter,  has  scarcely  produced  the  equals  of 
those  horrible  engines.  They  threw  masses  of  unextin- 
guishable  fire,  boiling  water,  of  burning  oil,  of  red  hot 
flints,  of  molten  metal,  from  distances  that  precluded  de- 
fence, and  with  a  force  that  nothing  could  resist.  The 
catapult  shot  stones  of  a  hundred  weight  from  the  distance 
of  furlongs,  with  the  straightness  of  an  arrow,  and  with 
an  impulse  that  ground  everything  in  their  way  to  pow- 
der. The  fortitude  that  scorned  the  Roman  spear,  and 
exulted  in  the  sight  of  the  columns  mounting  the  scaling 
ladders,  as  mounting  to  sure  destruction,  quailed  before  the 
tremendous  power  of  the  catapult.  The  singular  and  om- 
inous cry  of  the  watchers,  who  gave  notice  of  its  discharge, 


SALATHIEL.  461 

"The  son  cometh,"  was  a  sound  that  prostrated  every  man 
upon  his  face,  until  the  crash  of  the  walls  told  that  the 
blow  was  given. 

Every  thought  that  I  had  now  for  earth  was  in  the 
Tower  of  Antonia !  But  there  the  legions  rendered  ap- 
proach impossible;  and  I  could  only  gaze  from  a  distance, 
and  see,  in  the  bitterness  of  my  soul,  the  enemy  gradually 
forcing  their  way  from  rampart  to  rampart.  It  was  in 
vain  that  I  strove  to  collect  a  few  who  would  join  me  in  a 
desperate  attempt  to  succor  its  defenders.  I  was  left  alone ; 
and  sadly  sitting  on  the  battlements,  I  took  the  chance 
of  some  friendly  spear  or  stone.  Through  all  the  roar  I 
heard  the  voice  of  Sabat  the  Ishmaelite ;  the  eternal  "Woe ! 
woe !  woe !"  loud  as  ever,  and  in  appalling  unison  with  the 
hour.  He  now  came  rushing  along  the  wall,  with  the  same 
rapid  and  vigorous  stride  as  of  old;  but  his  betrothed  no 
longer  followed  him.  She  was  borne  in  his  arms !  The 
stones  from  the  engines  thundered  against  the  wall;  they 
tore  up  the  strong  buttresses  like  weeds ;  they  struck  away 
whole  ranks  of  men,  and  whirled  their  remnants  through 
the  air.  They  levelled  towers,  and  swept  battlements  away 
with  their  defenders  at  a  blow.  But  Sabat  moved  un- 
shrinking on  his  wild  mission.  His  cry,  now,  was  terrible 
prophecy.  "A  voice  from  the  east,  a  voice  from  the  west, 
a  voice  from  the  four  winds,  a  voice  against  Jerusalem 
and  the  holy  house,  a  voice  against  the  bridegroom  and  the 
bride,  a  voice  against  this  whole  people." 

He  stopped  before  me,  and  pointing  to  the  face  of  his 
bride,  said  with  sudden  faltering  and  tears,  "She  is  gone, 
she  is  dead.  She  died  last  night.  I  promised  to  die,  too. 
She  follows  me  no  more;  it  is  I  that  must  follow  her/' 
Death  was  in  his  face;  and  my  only  wonder  was,  that  a 
form  so  utterly  reduced  could  live  and  move.  I  offered 
him  some  provision  from  the  basket  of  a  dead  soldier  at 
my  feet.  For  the  first  time  he  took  it,  thanked  me,  and 
ate.  Not  less  to  my  surprise,  he  continued  gazing  round 
him  on  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  on  the  temple,  the 
tower  of  Antonia,  and  the  hills.  But  his  station  was  emi- 
nently perilous,  and  I  pointed  out  one  of  the  military 
engines  taking  its  position,  to  play  upon  the  spot  where 
we  were.  He  refused  to  stir.  "The  look  may  be  long/' 
said  he,  "when  a  man  looks  his  last."  I  heard  the  roar  of 


462  SALATHIEL. 

the  engine,  and  leaped  from  the  rampart  to  escape  the  dis- 
charge. Sabat  stood,  and  again  began  his  cry:  "Woe  to 
the  city,  and  to  the  holy  house,  and  to  the  people !"  The 
discharge  tore  up  a  large  portion  of  the  battlement.  Sabal 
never  moved  limb  or  feature.  The  wall  was  cut  away 
on  his  right  and  left,  as  if  it  had  been  cut  with  an  axe.  He 
stood  calmly  on  the  projecting  fragment,  with  his  lips  to 
the  lips  of  his  bride.  I  saw  the  engine  levelled  again,  and 
again  called  to  him  to  escape.  He  gave  me  no  answer  but 
a  melancholy  smile ;  and  crying  out,  with  a  voice  that  filled 
the  air,  "Woe  to  myself!"  stood.  I  heard  the  rush  of  the 
stone.  It  smote  Sabat  and  his  bride  into  atoms ! 

The  fall  of  our  illustrious  and  unhappy  city  was  su- 
pernatural. The  destruction  of  the  conquered  was  against 
the  first  principles  of  Roman  polity ;  and,  to  the  last  hour 
of  our  national  existence,  Kome  held  out  offers  of  peace, 
and  lamented  our  frantic  determination  to  be  undone.  But 
the  decree  was  gone  forth  from  a  mightier  throne.  During 
the  latter  days  of  the  siege  a  hostility  to  which  that  of  man 
was  as  the  grain  of  sand  to  the  tempest  that  drives  it  on, 
overpowered  our  strength  and  senses.  Fearful  shapes  and 
voices  in  the  air;  visions  startling  us  from  our  short  and 
troubled  sleep;  lunacy  in  its  most  hideous  forms;  sudden 
death  in  the  midst  of  vigor;  the  fury  of  tla  jlements  let 
loose  upon  our  unsheltered  heads ;  we  had  every  terror  and 
evil  that  could  beset  human  nature  but  pestilence;  the 
most  probable  of  all  in  a  city  crowded  with  the  famishing, 
the  diseased,  the  wounded,  and  the  dead.  Yet,  though  the 
streets  were  covered  with  the  unburied;  though  every  wall 
and  trench  was  streaming  with  gore;  though  six  hundred 
thousand  corpses  lay  flung  over  the  rampart,  naked  to  the 
sun — pestilence  came  not;  for,  if  it  had  come,  the  enemy 
would  have  been  scared  away.  But  the  "abomination  of 
desolation,"  the  pagan  standard,  was  fixed;  where  it  was 
to  remain-  until  the  plough  passed  over  the  ruins  of  Jeru- 
salem ! 

On  one  night,  that  fatal  night!  no  man  laid  his  head 
upon  his  pillow.  Heaven  and  earth  were  in  conflict.  Me- 
teors burned  above  us;  the  ground  shook  under  our  feet; 
the  volcano  blazed ;  the  wind  burst  forth  in  irresistible 
blasts,  and  swept  the  living  and  the  dead  in  whirlwinds, 
far  into  the  desert.  We  heard  the  bellowing  of  the  distant 


SALATH1EL.  463 

Mediterranean,  as  if  its  waters  were  at  our  side,  swelled 
by  a  new  deluge.  The  lakes  and  rivers  roared,  and  in- 
undated the  land.  The  fiery  sword  shot  out  tenfold  fire. 
Showers  of  blood  fell.  Thunder  pealed  from  every  quar- 
ter of  the  heaven.  Lightning,  in  immense  sheets,  of  an  in- 
tensity and  duration  that  turned  the  darkness  into  more 
than  day,  withering  eye  and  soul,  burned  from  the  zenith 
to  the  ground,  and  marked  its  track  by  forests  of  flame, 
and  the  shattered  summits  of  the  hills. 

Defence  was  now  unthought  of ;  for  the  mortal  hostility- 
had  passed  from  the  mind.  Our  hearts  quaked  for  fear; 
but  it  was  to  see  the  powers  of  heaven  shaken.  All  cast 
away  the  shield  and  the  spear,  and  crouched  before  the 
descending  judgment.  We  were  conscience-smitten.  Our 
cries  of  remorse,  anguish,  and  horror,  were  heard  through 
the  uproar  of  the  storm.  We  howled  to  the  caverns  to  hide 
us;  we  plunged  into  the  sepulchres  to  escape  the  wrath 
that  consumed  the  living;  we  would  have  buried  ourselves 
under  the  mountains !  I  knew  the  cause,  the  unspeakable 
cause;  and  knew  that  the  last  hour  of  crime  was  at  hand. 
A  few  fugitives,  astonished  to  see  one  man  among  them 
not  sunk  into  the  lowest  feebleness  of  fear,  came  round 
me,  and  besought  me  to  lead  them  to  some  place  of  safety, 
if  such  were  now  to  be  found  on  earth.  I  told  them  openly 
that  they  were  to  die,  and  counselled  them  to  die  in  the 
hallowed  ground  of  the  Temple.  They  followed  me,  through 
streets  encumbered  with  every  shape  of  human  suffering, 
to  the  foot  of  Mount  Moriah.  But,  beyond  that,  we  found 
advance  impossible.  Piles  of  cloud,  whose  darkness  was 
palpable,  even  in  the  midnight  in  which  we  stood,,  covered 
the  holy  hill.  Still,  not  to  be  daunted  by  anything  thai 
man  could  overcome,  I  cheered  my  disheartened  band,  and 
attempted  to  lead  the  way  up  the  ascent.  But  I  had  scarce- 
ly entered  the  cloud,  when  I  was  swept  downward  by  a 
gust  that  tore  the  rocks  in  a  flinty  shower  round  me. 

Now  came  the  last  and  most  wondrous  sign  that  marked 
the  fate  of  Israel.  While  I  lay  helpless,  I  heard  the  whirl- 
wind roar  through  the  cloudy  hill;  and  the  vapors  began 
to  revolve.  A  pale  light,  like  that  of  the  rising  moon, 
quivered  on  their  edges;  and  the  clouds  rose,  and  rapidly 
shaped  themselves  into  the  forms  of  battlements  and  tow- 
ers. The  sound  of  voices  was  heard  within,  low  and  dis- 


464  SALATHIEL. 

tant,  yet  strangely  sweet.  The  lustre  brightened,  and  the 
airy  building  rose,  tower  on  tower,  and  battlement  on  bat- 
tlement. In  awe  that  held  us  mute,  we  knelt  and  gazed 
upon  this  more  than  mortal  architecture,  which  continued 
rising  and  spreading,  and  glowing  with  a  serener  light, 
still  soft  and  silvery,  yet  to  which  the  broadest  moonbeam 
was  dim.  At  last,  it  stood  forth  to  earth  and  heaven  the 
colossal  image  of  the  first  Temple,  the  building  raised  by 
the  wisest  of  men,  and  consecrated  by  the  visible  glory. 
All  Jerusalem  saw  the  image;  and  the  shout  that,  in  the 
midst  of  their  despair,  ascended  from  its  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands,  told  what  proud  remembrances  were 
there.  But  a  hymn  was  heard  that  might  have  hushed  the 
world.  Never  fell  on  my  ear,  never  on  the  human  sense, 
a  sound  so  majestic,  yet  so  subduing ;  so  full  of  melancholy, 
yet  of  grandeur.  The  cloudy  portal  opened,  and  from  it 
marched  a  host,  such  as  man  had  never  seen  before,  such 
as  man  shall  never  see  but  once,  again;  the  guardian 
angels  of  the  city  of  David! — they  came  forth  glorious, 
but  with  woe  in  all  their  steps;  the  stars  upon  their  hel- 
mets dim;  their  robes  stained;  tears  flowing  down  their 
celestial  beauty.  "Let  us  go  hence,"  was  their  song  of 
sorrow ;  "Let  us  go  hence,"  was  answered  by  the  sad  echoes 
of  the  mountains.  "Let  us  go  hence,''  swelled  upon  the 
night,  to  the  farthest  limits  of  the  land.  The  procession 
lingered  long  on  the  summit  of  the  hill.  Then,  the  thun- 
der pealed ;  and  they  rose  at  the  command,  diffusing  waves 
of  light  over  the  expanse  of  heaven.  Their  chorus  was 
heard,  still  magnificent  and  melancholy,  when  their  splen- 
dor was  diminished  to  the  brightness  of  a  star.  The  thun- 
der roared  again;  the  cloudy  temple  was  scattered  on  the 
winds ;  and  darkness,  the  omen  of  her  grave,  settled  upon 
Jerusalem ! 

I  was  roused  from  my  consternation  by  the  voice  of  a 
man.  "What  I"  said  he,  "sitting  here,  when  all  the  world 
is  stirring  ?  Poring  over  the  faces  of  dead  men,  when  you 
should  be  the  foremost  among  the  living?  All  Jerusalem 
in  arms,  and  yet  you  scorn  your  time  to  gain  laurels?" 
The  haughty  and  sarcastic  tone  was  familiar  to  my  recol- 
lection ;  but  to  see,  as  I  did,  a  Eoman  soldier  within  a  few 
feet  of  me,  was  enough  to  make  me  spring  up,  and  draw 
my  scimitar,  careless  of  consequences.  "You  ought  to 


SALATH1UL.  465 

know  me,"  said  he,  without  moving  a  muscle ;  "for,  thougn 
it  is  some  years  since  we  met,  we  have  not  been  often 
asunder.  And  so,  here  you  have  been  sitting  these  twelve 
hours  among  corpses,  to  no  better  purpose  than  losing  your 
time  and  your  memory,  together  I" 

I  looked  round ;  the  sun  was  in  his  meridian !  The  little 
band  that  I  had  led  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  were 
lying  dead  to  a  man.  "Are  you  not  a  Boman?"  I  ex- 
claimed. 

"No ;  but  I  conclude  that  nearly  as  much  absurdity  and 
mischief  may  be  committed  under  these  trappings,  as  under 
any  other;  and  therefore  I  wear  them.  But  you  may  ex- 
change with  me  if  you  like.  This  cuirass  and  falchion 
will  help  you  to  money,  riot,  violence,  and  vice ;  and  what 
more  do  nine-tenths  of  mankind  ask  for  in  their  souls? 
Take  my  offer,  and  you  will  be  on  the  winning  side ;  another 
thing  that  men  like.  But  be  expeditious,  for  before  this 
sun  dips  his  forehead  in  the  Asphaltites,  the  bloodshed 
and  robbery  will  be  over."  His  laugE,  as  he  uttered  the 
words,  was  bitterness  itself;  and  I  felt  my  flesh  instinct- 
ively shudder.  But  a  glance  towards  the  Temple  told  me 
that  the  words  were  true.  The  legions  had  forced  their 
way  to  the  foot  of  the  third  and  weakest  rampart,  which  I 
now  saw  flying  in  pieces  under  the  blows  of  the  battering 
rams.  They  must  have  marched  by  the  very  spot  where 
I  had  sat  since  midnight ;  and  I  probably  escaped  only  by 
being  taken  for  one  of  the  dead.  I  wrung  my  hands  in 
agony.  He  burst  into  a  wild  roar  of  derision.  "What 
fools  you  lords  of  the  creation  are!  What  is  the  loss  of 
life  to  the  naked  wretches  that  you  see  running  about  like 
frightened  children  on  those  battlements  ?  or  to  the  clothed 
wretches  that  you  see  ready  to  massacre  them,  for  the 
honor  and  glory  of  a  better-clothed  wretch? — a  dinner 
too  much  will  revenge  them  on  the  emperor  of  the  earth. 
The  spear,  or  the  arrow  comes ;  and  quick  as  thought  their 
troubles  are  at  an  end.  Man ! — the  true  misery  is  to  live, 
to  be  constrained  to  live,  to  feel  the  wants,  weariness,  and 
weaknesses  of  life,  yet  to  drag  on  existence;  to  be — what 
I  am." 

He  tore  the  helmet  from  his  forehead,  and,  with  a 
groan  of  agony,  flung  it  to  a  measureless  distance  in  the 
air.  In  amaze  and  terror  I  beheld  Epiphanes !  The  same 


466  BALATHIEL. 

Greek  countenance,  the  same  kingly  presence,  the  same 
strength  and  heroic  stature,  and  the  same  despair,  were 
before  me,  that,  in  the  early  years  of  my  woe,  I  had  seen 
on  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  "I  told  you,"  said  he,  with 
a  sudden  return  to  calmness,  "that  this  day  would  come ; 
and  to  tell  you  so  required  no  spirit  of  prophecy.  There 
is  a  time  for  all  things,  long-suffering  among  the  rest; 
and  your  countrymen  had  long  ago  come  to  that  time.  But 
one  grand  hope  was  still  to  be  given;  they  cast  it  from 
them!  Ages  on  ages  shall  pass,  before  they  learn  the 
loftiness  of  that  hope,  or  fulfil  the  punishment  of  that  re- 
jection. Yet,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  shall  the  light  break 
in  upon  their  darkness.  They  shall  ask,  Why  are  we  the 
despised,  the  branded,  the  trampled,  the  abjured,  of  all 
nations?  Why  are  the  barbarian  and  the  civilized  alike 
our  oppressors?  Why  do  contending  faiths  join  in  crush- 
ing us  alone?  Why  do  realms,  distant  as  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  and  diverse  as  day  and  night — alike  those  who  have 
heard  our  history  and  those  who  have  never  heard  of  us. 
but  as  the  sad  sojourners  of  the  earth — unite  in  one  cry  of 
scorn?  And  what  is  the  universal  voice  of  nature,  but 
the  voice  of  the  King  of  nature  ?" 

I  listened  in  reverence  to  language  that  pierced  my 
heart  with  an  intense  power  of  truth,  yet  with  a  pang  that 
made  me  writhe.  I  longed,  yet  dreaded,  to  hear  again  the 
searching  and  lofty  accents  of  this  being  of  unwilling 
wisdom.  "Man  of  terrible  knowledge/'  said  I,  "canst 
thou  tell  for  what  crime  this  judgment  shall  come?" 

His  mighty  brow  was  stooped  in  awe,  and  his  features 
quivered  as  he  slowly  spoke.  "Their  crime?  There  is  no 
name  for  it.  The  spirits  of  heaven  weep  when  they  think 
of  it.  The  spirits  of  the  abyss  tremble.  Man  alone,  the 
man  of  Judea  alone,  could  commit  that  horror  of  horrors." 

He  paused,  and  prostrated  himself  at  the  words;  then 
rising,  rapidly  uttered:  "Judge  of  the  crime  by  its  pun- 
ishment. From  the  beginning  Israel  was  stubborn,  and 
his  stubbornness  brought  him  to  sorrow.  He  rebelled,  and 
he  was  warned  by  the  captivity  of  a  monarck,  or  the 
slaughter  of  a  tribe.  He  sinned  more  deeply,  for  he  was 
the  slave  of  impurity;  then  was  his  kingdom  divided;  yet 
a  few  years  saw  him  powerful  once  more.  He  sinned  more 
deeply  still,  for  he  sought  the  worship  of  idols.  Then  came 


SALATHIEL.  46? 

his  deeper  punishment,  in  the  fall  of  his  throne,,  and  the 
long  captivity  of  his  people.  But  even  Babylon  sent  back 
the  forgiven. 

"Happy,  I  say  to  you,  happy  will  be  the  hour  for  Israel 
• — for  mankind,  for  creation,  when  he  shall  take  into  his 
hand  the  records  of  his  fathers,  and,  in  tears,  ask,  What 
is  that  greater  crime  than  rebellion?  than  blasphemy? 
than  impurity?  than  idolatry?  which,  not  seventy  years, 
nor  a  thousand  years,  of  sorrow  have  seen  forgiven ;  which 
has  prolonged  his  woe  into  the  old  age  of  the  world — 
which  threatens  him  with  a  chain  not  to  be  broken,  but 
by  the  thunder-stroke  that  breaks  up  the  universe !" 

"And  still,"  said  I,  trembling  before  the  living  oracle, 
"still  is  there  hope  ?" 

"Look  to  that  mountain,"  was  the  answer,  as  he  pointed 
to  Moriah.  Its  side  covered  with  the  legions  advancing  to 
the  assault,  shone  in  the  sun,  like  a  tide  of  burning  brass. 
"It  is  now  a  sight  of  splendid  evil !"  exclaimed  he.  "But 
upon  that  mountain  shall  yet  be  enthroned  a  Sovereign 
before  whom  the  sun  shall  hide  his  head,  and  at  the  lifting 
of  whose  sceptre  the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens 
shall  bow  down !  To  that  mountain  shall  man,  and  more 
than  man,  crowd  for  wisdom  and  happiness.  From  that 
mountain  shall  light  flow  to  the  ends  of  the  universe ;  and 
the  government  shall  be  the  Everlasting !" 

The  roar  of  the  assault  began,  and  my  awful  companion 
was  recalled  to  the  world.  "I  must  see  the  end  of  this 
battle,"  said  he,  in  his  old  mixture  of  sarcasm  and  melan- 
choly. "Man's  natural  talent  for  making  himself  miser- 
able may  go  far,  but  he  is  still  the  better  for  a  teacher. 
On  the  top  of  that  hill  there  are  twenty  thousand  men 
panting  for  each  other's  blood,  like  tigers ;  and  yet  without 
me,  they  would  leave  the  grand  business  undone,  after  all." 

"But  one  word  more,"  I  cried,  giving  my  last  look  to 
the  tower  of  Antonia,  on  which  the  eagles  now  glittered. 

He  anticipated  me.  "All  are  safe — they  are  in  the  hands 
of  Septimius,  who  will  deal  with  them  in  honor.  He  solic- 
ited the  command,  that  he  might  provide  for  their  security. 
They  comfort  themselves  with  the  hope  that  you  will  re- 
turn. But  return  you  will  never.  They  will  be  happy  in 
the  hope — until  sorrow  is  too  long  shut  out,  to  find  room 
when  it  comes;  they  love  you,  and  will  love  you  long,  but 
there  is  an  end  of  all  things.  And  now,  farewell/' 


468  SALATHIEL. 

"And  now,  onward/'  said  I.  "But  every  spot  is  crowded 
with  the  Eoman  columns.  How  am  I  to  pass  those 
spears  ?" 

He  laughed  wildly,  flung  his  arm  round  me,  as  of  old; 
and  ran,  with  the  speed  of  a  stag,  round  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  to  an  unobstructed  side.  The  ascent  was  nearly  per- 
pendicular ;  but  he  bounded  up  the  crags  without  drawing  a 
breath,  placed  me  on  a  battlement,  and  was  gone ! 

Below  me  war  raged  in  its  boundless  fury.  The  enemy 
had  forced  their  way;  and  the  exasperated  Jews,  con- 
temptuous of  life,  fought  them  with  the  rage  of  wild 
beasts.  When  the  lance  was  broke,  the  knife  was  the 
weapon;  when  the  knife  failed,  they  tore  with  their  hands 
and  teeth.  Masses  of  stone,  torches,  even  dead  bodies, 
everything  that  could  minister  to  destruction,  were  hurled 
from  the  roofs  on  the  assailants,  who  were  often  repulsed 
with  deadly  havoc.  But  they  still  made  way;  the  courts 
of  the  Gentiles,  of  the  Israelites,  and  of  the  priests,  were 
successively  stormed ;  and  the  legions  at  length  established 
themselves  in  front  of  the  Sanctuary.  A  howl  of  wrath, 
at  the  possible  profanation  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  rose  from 
the  multitude.  I  rushed  from  the  battlement,  and,  show- 
ing myself  to  the  people,  demanded  "who  would  follow 
me?"  The  crowd  exulted  at  the  sight  of  their  well- 
known  chieftain;  and  in  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  we 
poured  on  the  enemy,  and  drove  them  from  the  court  of  the 
sanctuary.  Startled  by  the  sudden  reverse,  the  Eoman 
generals  renewed  their  proposal  for  a  surrender,  and  Titus 
himself,  at  the  most  imminent  hazard,  forced  his  way  to 
the  portal,  and  besought  me  to  surrender,  and  save  the 
Temple. 

But  Jerusalem  was  marked  for  ruin.  While  I  was  in 
the  very  act  of  checking  the  shower  of  spears,  I  heard 
the  voice  of  one  of  those  extraordinary  beings  who,  by 
mad  predictions  of  the  certain  succor  of  Heaven,  kept  up 
the  resistance  while  there  was  a  man  to  be  slaughtered. 
He  was  standing  on  the  roof  of  a  vast  cloister,  surrounded 
with  a  crowd  of  unfortunate  men,  whom  his  false  prophe- 
cies were  infuriating  against  the  offer  of  life.  I  recog- 
nized the  impostor,  or  the  demon,  by  whom  the  Roman 
mission  had  been  destroyed.  The  legionaries  pointed,  in 
vain,  to  the  flames  already  rising  round  the  cloisters.  The 


SALA.THIEL.  469 

predictions  grew  bolder  still,  and  the  words  of  truth  were 
answered  by  showers  of  missiles.  The  flames  suddenly 
burst  out  through  the  roof;  and  the  whole  of  its  defend- 
ers, to  the  number  of  thousands,  sank  into  the  conflagra- 
tion. When  I  looked  round  after  the  shock,  this  fearful 
being,  without  a  touch  of  fire  on  his  raiment,  was  ha- 
ranguing in  a  distant  quarter,  and  whether  man  or  fiend, 
urging  the  multitude  to  their  fate ! 

This  was  the  day  of  days,  the  ninth  day  of  the  month 
Ab,  the  anniversary  of  the  burning  of  the  Temple  by  the 
King  of  Babylon.  One  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  seven  months,  and  fifteen  days  were  past,  from  its 
foundation  by  our  great  King  Solomon !  My  attack  had 
repelled  the  legionaries;  and  Titus,  exhausted  and  dis- 
pirited, began  to  withdraw  the  routed  columns  from  the 
front  of  the  Temple.  It  was  the  fifth  hour;  the  sun  was 
scorching  up  their  strength ;  and  I  looked  proudly  forward 
to  victory  and  the  preservation  of  the  Temple ! 

As  I  was  standing  on  the  portal  of  the  court  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  gazing  at  the  rout  of  the  troops  towards 
the  tower  of  Antonia,  I  heard  a  voice  close  to  my  ear — "I 
told  you  that  this  day  would  end  in  nothing  without  me." 
I  turned,  but  he  was  already  far  away  among  the  crowd; 
and  before  I  could  even  speak,  I  saw  him,  torch  in  hand, 
bound  into  the  Golden  window,  beside  the  veil  of  the  Holy 
place.  The  inner  Temple  was  instantly  in  a  blaze.  Our 
cries,  and  the  sight  of  the  flames,  brought  back  the  enemy 
at  full  speed.  I  saw  that  the  fatal  hour  was  come;  ami, 
collecting  a  few  brave  men,  took  my  post  before  the  veil, 
to  guard  the  entrance  with  my  blood. 

But  the  legions  rushe'd  onward,  crying  out  that  "they 
were  led  by  the  Fates,"  and  that  "the  Uod  of  the  Jews  had 
given  his  people  and  city  into  their  hands."  The  torrent 
was  irresistible.  Titus  rushed  in  at  its  head,  exclaiming, 
that  "the  Divinity  alone  could  have  given  the  stronghold 
into  his  power,  for  it  was  beyond  the  hope  and  strength  of 
man."  My  devoted  companions  were  torn  down  in  an  in- 
stant. I  was  forced  back  to  the  veil  of  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
fighting  at  random  in  the  midst  of  the  legionaries,  who 
now  saw  no  enemies  but  each  other.  In  the  fury  of  plunder 
the  deluged  the  Portico  and  the  Sanctuary  with  blood. 

The  golden  table  of  Pompey,  the  golden  vine,  the  tro- 


8ALATBIEL. 

phies  of  Herod,  were  instantly  torn  away.  Subordination 
was  lost.  The  troops  trampled  upon  their  officers.  Titus 
himself  was  saved  only  by  cutting  his  way  through  those 
madmen.  But  I  longed  to  die,  and  give  my  last  breath, 
and  the  last  drop  of  my  veins  to  the  seat  of  Sanctity  and 
Glory.  I  fought — I  taunted — I  heaped  loud  scorn  on  the 
profaners — I  was  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  gore; 
but  it  was  from  the  hearts  of  Eomans — I  toiled  for  death ; 
but  I  remained  without  a  wound.  Yet,  woe  to  the  life 
that  came  within  the  sweep  of  my  scimitar.  The  last 
blow  that  I  struck  was  at  an  impious  hand,  put  forth  to 
grasp  the  veil  that  shut  the  Holy  of  Holies  from  the  hu- 
man gaze  .  The  hand  flew  from  the  body,  and  the  spoiler 
fell  groaning  at  my  feet.  He  sent  up  an  expiring  look, 
and  I  knew  the  countenance  of  my  persecutor,  Cestius ! 

But  a  new  enemy  was  come,  conqueror  alike  of  the  vic- 
tor and  the  vanquished — fire.  I  heard  its  roar  round  the 
sanctuary.  The  Eomans,  appalled,  fled  to  the  portal ;  but 
they  were  doomed.  A  wall  of  fire  stood  before  them.  They 
rushed  back,  tore  down  the  veil,  and  the  Holy  of  Holies 
stood  open.  The  blaze  melted  the  plates  of  the  roof  in  a 
golden  shower  above  me.  It  calcined  the  marble  floor;  it 
dissipated  in  vapor  the  inestimable  gems  that  studded  the 
walls.  All  who  entered  lay  turned  to  ashes.  So  perish  the 
profaners !  But  on  the  sacred  Ark  the  flame  had  no 
power.  It  whirled  and  swept  in  a  red  orb  round  the  un- 
touched symbol  of  the  throne  of  thrones.  Still  I  lived; 
but  I  felt  my  strength  giving  way:  the  heat  withered  my 
sinews — the  flame  extinguished  my  sight.  Bleeding,  blind, 
frantic,  I  still  fought,  until  I  sank  under  a  heap  of  dead. 
In  defiance  of  all  prediction,  I  n«w  believed  my  death  in- 
evitable. At  once  I  heard  the  shouts  of  the  conquerors 
and  the  fall  of  the  pillars  of  the  Temple.  I  welcomed 
the  living  grave!  In  all  the  wildness  of  the  uproar,  I 
heard  the  voice,  "TARRY  THOU,  TILL  i  COME  !"  The  world 
disappeared  from  me! 


Here  I  pause.  I  had  undergone  that  portion  of  my 
unhappy  career  which  was  to  be  passed  among  my  people. 
My  life,  as  father,  husband,  and  citizen  was  at  an  end. 
Thenceforth  I  was  to  be  a  solitary  being.  The  ties  of  so- 
ciety were  to  be  cut  from  me.  I  was  to  see  wondrous 


8ALATHIEL.  471 

things,  and  do  wondrous  things;  to  see,  and  to  share,  in 
the  rise  and  fall  of  empires;  to  let  loose  and  ride  on  the 
torrent  of  mighty  changes;  to  command  those  elements  of 
passion  and  folly  which  shake  the  world.  To  see  all  die, 
and  yet  to  live. 

I  have  still  the  strangest,  and  the  stateliest,  of  all  histo- 
ries to  tell. 


THE  END. 


UCS8  LIBRARY 


nr  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

A     000607317     5 


